{"id":518931,"date":"2026-03-12T10:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T10:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/518931\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T10:46:15","slug":"trumps-war-with-iran-complicates-economic-pivot-gop-badly-wants-to-see-from-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/518931\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s war with Iran complicates economic pivot GOP badly wants to see from him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hebron, Kentucky
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n President Donald Trump was touring a pharmaceutical company in Ohio Wednesday \u2014 trying again to turn attention to his domestic achievements \u2014 when talk again returned to the restive Middle East<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n Was the conflagration a war, a reporter asked, or merely an \u201cexcursion,\u201d as the president had just described it.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s both,\u201d he explained.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s an excursion that will keep us out of a war, and the war is going to be, I mean for them \u2014 it\u2019s a war. For us, it\u2019s turned out to be easier than we thought,\u201d he continued.\n <\/p>\n

\n For Americans eager for clarity on where, exactly, this is headed, it wasn\u2019t much.\n <\/p>\n

\n And for a president looking to present his best case on a conflict that has roiled markets and polls poorly, it was a window into a difficult political moment.\n <\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

\n Wednesday\u2019s two-state trip \u2014 first to Cincinnati and then a logistics facility in Kentucky, where he delivered remarks \u2014 was Trump\u2019s first appearance before a crowd of his supporters since the conflict began late last month.\n <\/p>\n

\n Even as the war has intensified, Trump has tried \u2014 at least occasionally \u2014 to maintain focus on the domestic priority his advisers believe is essential for GOP success in November\u2019s midterm elections. Yet the war has badly complicated his attempts at an economic pivot. A spike in oil prices has driven gas prices higher, erasing a key talking point. Stock market see-saws, which Trump often views as a barometer for his policies, reflect concern among investors at where the world is headed.\n <\/p>\n

\n And his confusing timelines about the conflict\u2019s duration have done little to quiet the handwringing among nervous Republicans, many of whom have placed calls to Trump advisers encouraging a better messaging strategy, particularly around the price of oil, sources involved in and briefed on those conversations said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump on Wednesday heralded an international agreement<\/a> to release stockpiled oil reserves, arguing it would keep energy prices in check. And shortly after his remarks, the US Department of Energy announced<\/a> the administration would release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve starting next week.\n <\/p>\n

\n But while Trump also touted his drug pricing and housing plans and tax cuts on Wednesday, he kept getting pulled back to a foreign conflict that the Pentagon has told Congress cost at least $11 billion in its first six days<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou never like to say too early, you\u2019ve won. We won. We won. In the first hour it was over,\u201d Trump told the Kentucky crowd.\n <\/p>\n

\n But after praising the International Energy Agency\u2019s announcement, which he said would \u201csubstantially reduce the oil prices,\u201d Trump defended the ongoing conflict.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to leave early, do we? We got to finish the job, right?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In private, many Trump allies acknowledge the risk of political peril for the president and his party the longer the war persists. Many have encouraged the administration to offer clearer messaging about the goals of the war and the metrics for its success, hoping to offer concerned Americans a better picture of how it might end, sources familiar with the talks said.\n <\/p>\n

\n A key throughline in the messaging has been for officials to clearly articulate that this is not 2003, and that the Trump administration has no plans for the nation building attempted in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, those sources said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cPeople have long memories,\u201d one administration official told CNN. \u201cGetting entrenched in a long-term conflict is a real problem. But there isn\u2019t as much heartburn over a several-week bombing campaign.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The White House has also tried to ensure the president and other top officials do not put a definitive timeline on when to expect the war to be completed, the sources familiar said, so as not to box in the Trump administration as the military continues its operations.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n Trump, after saying at the start of the war it could last more than a month, has since suggested it could wrap up much sooner, while at other times, signaled much more expansive goals that seem to undercut his advisers\u2019 attempts to define a clear endgame.\n <\/p>\n

\n Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who said last week that the war could last three to eight weeks, pulled back Tuesday, when he noted it was not for him to assess whether \u201cit\u2019s the beginning, the middle or the end\u201d of the war.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAny time I want it to end, it will end,\u201d Trump told Axios Wednesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n But many Republicans, including some who are up for reelection in November, fear that the muddled timelines from the president make it harder to convince voters this is not a \u201cforever war.\u201d One Trump ally said that there isn\u2019t much more clarity behind the scenes.\n <\/p>\n

\n The president has been shown some polling that reflects how many Americans are opposed to the war and are wary of the US being embroiled in another long-term military conflict in the Middle East.\n <\/p>\n

\n Among those questioning the war is Rep. Thomas Massie, the Republican representing this Kentucky district, whom Trump has come to despise. \u201cI just want to say this, Thomas Massie is a disaster for our party,\u201d the president told the crowd on Wednesday while calling Massie\u2019s primary opponent up on stage.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSo let\u2019s assume I didn\u2019t go in. They\u2019d say, \u2018He should be going in!\u2019 These are the worst people,\u201d Trump said, lamenting the criticisms from Massie and some Democrats.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump continues to believe that most Americans will approve of eliminating an Iranian nuclear threat in the long term, one of the sources familiar with the talks said.\n <\/p>\n

\n White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back<\/a> Wednesday evening on what she called \u201ca fake narrative that there has been \u2018mixed messaging\u2019 about the objectives of Operation Epic Fury.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFrom the beginning, President Trump and his entire team have consistently laid out clear objectives to the American people about what the U.S. Military seeks to accomplish through these ongoing successful major combat operations,\u201d she wrote on X.\n <\/p>\n

\n The president\u2019s belief in the long-term popularity of the war may be based on rhetoric coming from more hawkish Republican allies, who have supported his attacks in Iran.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cTrump has the opportunity to do something incredible,\u201d another Trump ally who is in regular touch with the White House told CNN. \u201cHe can finally bring peace to the Middle East by cutting off the head of the snake,\u201d referring to Iran\u2019s funding of terrorism across the region. This messaging has been relayed to the president as well, this source said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Since the war began, Trump\u2019s advisers have sought to better define its objectives and narrow its scope to eliminating Iran\u2019s missile, nuclear and naval capabilities. In doing so, they have made clear the conflict will end when Trump determines those goals have been reached \u2014 even if that means leaving in place the regime that built them in the first place.\n <\/p>\n

\n And Republicans by and large support Trump\u2019s military action, though many voices within Trump\u2019s MAGA movement have either voiced deep skepticism or outright rejected the premise on which the conflict was launched.\n <\/p>\n

\n But even those who support the war acknowledge its risks and have encouraged a limited engagement.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think the sooner we get to what the president was talking about yesterday \u2014 a decisive, clear end to this conflict \u2014 the better,\u201d Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said Tuesday, referring to the president\u2019s press conference the day before.\n <\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

\n Trump\u2019s countervailing impulses \u2014 to begin a war in the Middle East while also trying to broadcast an economic revival \u2014 have made for some confused moments.\n <\/p>\n

\n Just minutes after he gave the final order to launch the bombing campaign nearly two weeks ago, he was touting his energy agenda in the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, with a fleet of massive tankers behind him. While he professed to still have a \u201chard decision\u201d in front of him, planes were already being readied to carry out the first wave of strikes.\n <\/p>\n

\n In that speech, Trump made no mention of the potential effect on the global energy market or the price of gas at home. In fact, senior members of the administration were claiming in interviews that they were unconcerned about the consequences bombing Iran would have on oil supplies.\n <\/p>\n

\n That turned out to be misplaced.\n <\/p>\n

\n The White House insisted this week that Trump and his team had seen the oil volatility coming all along. And while they\u2019ve stood up some efforts to alleviate the strain, Trump has also sounded dismissive of concerns about passing through the Strait of Hormuz, telling reporters earlier Wednesday that the US had taken out \u201cjust about all\u201d of Iran\u2019s mining ships. CNN previously reported that Iran has begun laying mines in the strait.\n <\/p>\n

\n On his way back to Washington Wednesday night, Trump projected confidence in the mission \u2014 while leaving his timeline open.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think we\u2019re in very good shape. The main thing is we have to win this thing, win it quickly, but win it,\u201d Trump told reporters. \u201cAnd there are many people \u2014 I\u2019m just watching some of the news \u2014 most people say it\u2019s already been won. It\u2019s just a question of when, when do we stop?\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hebron, Kentucky \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 President Donald Trump was touring a pharmaceutical company in Ohio Wednesday \u2014 trying again to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-518931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}