Trump weighs huge strike on Iran to show voters bold display of US power before crucial midterm elections, report says
Donald Trump is considering a powerful strike on Iran to try and show American strength ahead of crucial midterm elections that may be defined by the war efforts.
The President’s favorability numbers have sunk since the strikes began in February, with Democrats favored to take back the House and a chance to regain the Senate.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is being asked to put together options for strikes against Iran ahead of the midterms, two White House officials told The Atlantic.
The officials said Trump wants to show voters he is serious about lowering gas prices and moving toward an end of the Iran conflict prior to the November 3 elections.
‘The Commander-in-Chief has all options available at any time,’ a White House official told The Daily Mail. ‘President Trump holds all the cards and will do whatever is best for the United States.’
The official reiterated President Trump’s belief that the war is close to ending with an American victory.
‘The United States is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian economy collapsing. Iran has been decimated, and things will go one of two ways; the easy way or the hard way,’ they said.
A Pentagon official didn’t comment on the report but told the Mail that its job is ‘to develop and present military options to the President.’
Officials said Trump wants to show voters he is serious about lowering gas prices and moving toward an end of the Iran conflict prior to the November 3 elections
Soaring gas prices could trigger a Democratic ‘blue wave’ in the midterms
Officials said that the size and targets of the strikes are still up for debate and being developed by US Central Command and no final decision has been made.
However, even the administration knows that these strikes alone would not get Iran to negotiate or lower gas prices but that voters could start to see progress.
‘It would make the president look like he got a win and that gas prices would start going down,’ one Republican familiar with negotiations said.
The president is also battling record-low approval ratings and a cost-of-living crisis fueled by the war in Iran.
Diesel surged to around $6.50 a gallon last month, pushing up the cost of transporting everything from groceries to construction materials across the country.
The dramatic spike has been fueled by turmoil overseas in response to the wars in Ukraine and Iran, which have led to attacks on refineries in Russia and the Middle East.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found Trump’s approval rating to be 32 percent. That same poll found that 44 percent of voters surveyed preferred Democratic candidates, compared to just 37 percent who favored Republicans.
It comes as GOP candidates have admitted that the war in Iran is to blame it for their sagging poll ratings.
Hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz have driven up global oil prices. US diesel fuel prices hit an all time high on September 22, hurting truckers and driving up delivery costs
Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton was asked what he sees as ‘dragging’ his campaign, to which he responded, ‘It’s not tariffs…. It’s the war, it’s gas prices, it’s diesel,’ according to the audio from a September 24th event.
The conflict in the Middle East, now in its eighth month, has pushed gasoline above $4 a gallon. Only around a third of Americans approve of the strikes on Iran.
Republican Senate candidates in Iowa, Michigan and Ohio have publicly urged Trump to end the war.
Iran’s top diplomat insisted on Sunday that there would be no military solution to the United States’ war against the Islamic republic, with talks on ending the conflict apparently at an impasse.
A campaign of heavy bombardment failed to bring a decisive close to the war launched by the US and Israel in late February, and Washington in recent weeks has dialed back military operations in favor of economic pressure.
The main point of contention remains Iran’s attempt to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for Gulf oil and gas where a UK maritime agency reported on Sunday another tanker was struck by an unknown projectile.
The two sides agreed a memorandum of understanding in June that spelled out a framework for a permanent resolution, but Iranian attacks on vessels in the Hormuz prompted a return to US military operations.
Iran has sought to impose its control over the vital shipping lane since the start of the war, striking vessels that attempt to transit without its authorization.
Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton (pictured left) slammed Trump on the war
The US has imposed its own counterblockade of Iranian ports, and has also struck vessels it accuses of violating it.
Gas prices in the US and abroad have soared during the eight-month-long war, a cost Trump has repeatedly said is worth it for making sure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons.
The national average for a gallon of diesel in the US was $6.37 on Friday, according to AAA, after hitting a record $6.52 on September 22. Diesel prices have hit records in Europe, too.
Trump has previously said it’s ‘possible’ he may ramp up bombing of Iran after the midterm elections and that he rejected Iran’s latest peace offer because it’s not good enough.
Trump said in a Time magazine interview published Thursday that he won’t now accept proposals from Iran that ‘he wouldn’t have approved a year ago.’
He left open the possibility of resuming bombing Iran after the election. He refused to offer details, telling journalists, ‘I can´t tell you that because look, you know, you´re asking, where are you going to bomb?’
He told Time magazine that he only heard about those reports on the same day that the September 28 interview was conducted with Time reporters, adding ‘I can’t imagine this.’
Trump said had Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu been forewarned, ‘he would have done something about it’ or ‘would have had people at least alert.’
