The Wall Street Journal published a report by Anne Lenski and Josh Dawsey stating that President Donald Trump has run out of patience with the ongoing conflict with Iran, which has no end in sight. The newspaper quoted a senior official as saying that the president has become skeptical of the diplomatic track and is now in a “vindictive mood” toward Iran.
She noted that Trump was growing weary of the war. During a recent meeting in the Oval Office, he launched a scathing attack on Iranian leaders, calling them "scum" and "crazy," and unleashing a torrent of insults, according to someone who heard the remarks. As the war with Iran enters its fifth month, Trump's frustration is mounting that a conflict he believed would end within weeks has dragged on with no end in sight, according to administration officials and others close to the president.
Trump launched a scathing attack on Iranian leaders, calling them scum and lunatics, and unleashing a torrent of insults.
Some of Trump's advisers now fear that the war, which has resulted in higher prices, a decline in his popularity, and the deaths of more than a dozen American soldiers, is wasting his time as president and damaging the Republicans' already slim chances in the upcoming midterm elections.
The newspaper reported that Trump has been trying for months to end the war, announcing a ceasefire in April after threatening to destroy “the entire Iranian civilization.” In June, he said the United States and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but brief periods of calm quickly dissipated, and fighting resumed.
According to informed sources, the president's doubts about the possibility of achieving lasting peace through negotiations with Iran have grown. A senior US administration official said that Trump believes Iran only understands military force, adding that he is seeking "revenge" against Tehran. The official explained that the president sees no good options other than continuing the strikes.
Over the past two weeks, Washington and Tehran have exchanged fire , escalating the conflict after a fragile ceasefire quickly collapsed. On Wednesday, Houthi militants fired on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, causing oil prices to spike. Trump threatened “major military punishment” against Iran if the Houthis continue their attacks. The United States is bolstering its forces, medical personnel, and weapons in the Middle East to give Trump stronger military options should he decide to escalate. Iran has withstood previous waves of airstrikes.
The war also escalated tensions with Israel, Trump's closest ally in the conflict. A senior administration official reported that Trump expressed his displeasure with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even telling aides on occasion that he did not want to speak to or meet with him.
The official added that the Israelis had sought to arrange a meeting between Netanyahu and Trump. Netanyahu was expected to arrive in the United States next week to attend Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral, but those plans have not yet been finalized. The Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment.
The newspaper reports that the war has had a personal impact on the president and some of his top advisors. According to informed sources, some of his senior aides were warned by intelligence agencies that the Iranians were seeking to assassinate them and were instructed to stop using private transportation services.
While in Turkey for the G20 summit, Trump was briefed on Israeli intelligence indicating a new Iranian plot to assassinate him. The plot, described by one administration official as ambitious and by other U.S. officials as implausible, was one of the factors that prompted the president to use an older-model presidential plane. Some officials had expressed concern that the luxurious aircraft, a gift from Qatar, which Trump used to travel to Turkey, lacked adequate defensive capabilities. Trump was furious when The New York Times first reported the reason for the change of plane, expressing his displeasure at the speed with which the information was leaked and telling his aides it posed a security threat, according to officials. He ordered some administration officials to hand over their phones while his team worked to identify the source of the leak and instructed his aides to provide regular updates.
As the war dragged on, Trump's confidence in the ability of the United States and Iran to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict dwindled. He complained to his advisors about the difficulty in discerning who was truly in command, and that every time the United States thought it had made progress at the negotiating table, Iran would resume its attacks, according to informed sources.
Trump expressed his displeasure with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and even told his aides on occasion that he did not wish to speak to or meet with him.
Last month, Trump was so enthusiastic about the prospect of signing a memorandum of understanding with Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that he ignored his Republican allies who said the Iranians would not abide by the agreement, according to a senior administration official. Trump told them he wanted to get it done.
Sources reported that the president's two top negotiators, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Wittkopf, still believe an agreement with the Iranians is possible. However, other advisors expressed doubts about the feasibility of a peace deal.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the war is creating divisions within the conservative coalition that Trump once held in his grip, worrying some Republicans close to the White House. Longtime Trump allies, such as Fox News host Laura Ingraham, have used their platforms to voice concerns about the war's potential impact on Republicans in the November midterm elections. On Monday, she said, "Time is running out." Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump advisor, said, "Netanyahu has dragged us into a horrible conflict built on lies, and people are seeing what's happening."
Senior White House aides are trying to focus on the economy. Trump told a crowd at a Georgia high school, “If you’re paying a little bit more, the price will go down now, very quickly.”
Trump told his advisers in an Oval Office meeting in June that they needed to pressure gasoline retailers and oil companies to lower prices, and that the companies should do so in appreciation of everything he had done for them, according to sources familiar with the matter.
His aides held a series of meetings to discuss ways to reduce gasoline prices before the midterm elections.
Trump is noted to be less focused on the fallout from the war and the midterm elections than his advisers and Republicans in Congress, according to people who have spoken to him.
“He now believes he has missed his chance. He is going back to the original plan, which is a military operation,” said Texas Republican Representative Michael McCaul, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
In another report, the newspaper argued that Trump is facing a new front opened by the Houthis in the Red Sea. It stated that the Houthis' entry has added a dangerous new dimension to the situation for the United States and its allies, and has increased pressure on the global economy. The armed group's actions threaten to draw in other regional military powers, such as Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Pakistan. The newspaper quoted Adam Baron, a researcher at the New America think tank specializing in Yemen and the Arabian Gulf, as saying: "With this escalation, the Houthis represent a nuclear option for Iran. They are a non-maritime force capable of imposing a naval blockade and holding the global economy hostage. They have done this before, and they are fully aware of the leverage they possess."
Michael Ratney, who served as the US ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Biden administration, said: “It doesn’t take a missile or a drone to stop commercial shipping. If shipping companies refuse to pass through, that’s a de facto blockade.”
Ratney added, “I don’t think trying to resolve this militarily will work. It didn’t work in the first phase of the war. The Houthis have endured tremendous levels of violence from foreign military intervention, and that hasn’t really affected their ideology or motivations.” Baron, from the New America think tank, said, “They have a desire to test the red lines and see if they can draw new ones.”
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