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U.S. President Donald Trump, who has conceded that the Iran war cost Republicans dearly in the midterm elections, now faces three largely problematic options, resume bombing, negotiate a deal or keep "strangling" Iran with a blockade and sanctions, Axios reported.
Returning to war would be highly unpopular, keep gas prices high, and likely yield no better military result. At the same time, a deal could prove hard if Iranian officials refuse concessions or raise demands after sensing weakness.
The third option, which aides call "strangle," would keep the naval blockade and crippling sanctions in place to leave the Iranian government to "rot" while testing its appetite for a deal, a path that could take months.
"It’s one thing to lose the midterms. But Trump doesn’t want to look like a loser twice," a former Trump adviser told Axios.
"The reason we lost is the war,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X on Wednesday.
"The president himself said so last night. If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. But everyone knows why we lost," he noted.
Vance also cited the U.S. relationship with Israel as a serious liability for Republicans.
In recent months, he has led a faction advising Trump to reach a deal and privately accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "being wrong on everything" on Iran, sources told Axios.
Trump called Vance’s analysis "largely true because it drove the gasoline up," but said the war was worth it. "I do. Yeah. I mean, well, you have no choice," he told reporters. "If I had to do it again, I’d have to do it again because, long term, it’s the only answer. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon."
Asked when he would end the war, Trump said: "Whenever I wanted to. But it’s got to be done right."
"There was such love at those rallies, it was incredible and we weren’t able to transfer the love to candidates," Trump said, adding he can work with Democrats on "many more things than people understand."
Most senior officials share Vance’s views, but Trump still leaned toward resuming the war and at one point considered striking before the midterms, as Netanyahu urged. He decided to wait but endorsed Netanyahu in Israel’s election against his advisers’ advice.
The U.S. military is finishing preparations for a possible resumption of major combat, including sending more assets, American officials said. Renewed strikes remain under serious consideration, sources told Fox News Digital.
Qatari mediators are seeking U.S. and Iranian support for a draft deal to head off war and possibly resume direct talks in the coming days, regional sources told Axios. CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others want the blockade and economic pressure to play out longer.
"The Iranian nation handed Trump a strategic defeat on the battlefield and in the Hormuz, and a POLITICAL DEFEAT in Washington," Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei wrote on X.
"Tehran’s temptation is likely to mistake Trump’s political weakness for military weakness and overplay its hand, when the smarter move is to bank a deal while Washington still wants one," said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.
"No, I think he’s doing a very good job," Trump said when asked whether he would replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. CBS News reported Trump has asked advisers whether Hegseth should stay, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis floated as a possible successor.
"Hegseth is on the chopping block," a former White House staffer told Fox News Digital.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth is "100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump’s term." Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has vowed to force an impeachment vote in the lame-duck session.
Some White House aides suggested CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine could face scrutiny over Iran war guidance.
Trump’s Iran war decision now looms over the final two years of his term.
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