Trump: Iran War Will End After November Elections — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Trump said the Iran war won't end until after November's midterm elections, claiming Iran's leaders "can't hold out any longer" and oil prices will drop once Republicans win the midterms.
- The war, now in its seventh month, began when the US and Israel attacked Iran in February; Trump initially predicted it would last only a matter of weeks.
- Brent crude oil hit $100 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since July, with Iranian attacks forcing production stoppages in Gulf states and disrupting exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
- On Tuesday night, the US military destroyed five IRGC-linked oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and northern Gulf; the IRGC then claimed it struck two US Navy destroyers and eight tankers in the Strait of Hormuz (Centcom denied its warships were hit).
- IRGC ballistic missiles struck Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Wednesday — Jordan intercepted 20 missiles, but US sources told CBS that one A-10 was hit and lost a wing, and about eight F-15s sustained light damage.
- At the Texas convention, Trump acknowledged voter frustration directly: "Guys come up to me and say, 'I wish you didn't do the war in Iran. Now gasoline is up.'"
Why it matters: Trump is staking his political survival on a timeline — war ends after November 3, then oil drops — that directly contradicts the escalation happening on the ground, with US fighter jets damaged at a Jordan air base and Brent crude back at $100. Republicans are already at risk of losing Congress, and Trump himself admitted Americans are complaining about gas prices, making the midterm gamble unusually exposed.
Ask SkimNews
