U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the war with Iran would end right after November’s midterm elections.
“I think the war’s going to end immediately after the election, because they can’t hold out any longer,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before boarding Air Force One for the Republican midterm convention in Dallas.
The president said the Iranian leadership was “desperate” to influence the midterms, adding that Tehran wants “a nice weak group of people in there” who would “leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon.”
However, top White House advisers have privately warned that the conflict could last through the remainder of his presidency, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. officials.
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were among the advisers who told Trump in Oval Office and Situation Room discussions that Tehran could continue resisting U.S. pressure, potentially prolonging the conflict beyond Inauguration Day in January 2029, according to the report.
Trump also warned on Wednesday there would be many more American strikes on Iranian oil tankers around the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’ve taken out about nine of their tankers,” Trump said during the press gaggle on the Joint Base Andrews tarmac. He added that “you’re going to see a lot more.”
U.S. Central Command on Wednesday confirmed it had destroyed 10 Iranian tankers “in just the last week.”
“These vessels were part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that funds the IRGC, and Iran cannot defend them,” the command said.
At the Dallas convention later Wednesday, Trump defended his administration’s military campaign against Iran, saying that a nuclear-armed Tehran would have had far greater leverage over Washington. “If they had a nuclear weapon, I’d be calling the Supreme Leader and I’d be saying, ‘Mr. Supreme Leader, how are you, sir? Is there anything we can do for you?’ as opposed to bombing the crap out of him,” Trump said, adding: “It’s very simple. We cannot let them have a nuclear weapon.”
