Trump Advisers Urge Him to Find Iran Exit Ramp, Fearing Political Backlash

President Trump said he was eyeing a quick end to the war in Iran, as some of his advisers privately urged him to look for an exit plan amid spiking oil prices and concerns that a lengthy conflict could spark political backlash. 

Speaking to reporters in Florida on Monday, Trump characterized the military mission as mostly having achieved its goals. “We’re way ahead of schedule,” he said, adding he thought it would be over “very soon.”

He didn’t provide a clear timeline for ending the Iran operation. When asked about helping the Iranian people who have risen up against the regime, Trump sounded ready for a quick conclusion rather than to continue to push for leadership change.

“We want a system that can lead to many years of peace, and if we can’t have that, we might as well get it over with right now,” Trump said. He said he was disappointed in the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Iran’s new supreme leader, a move that signals that Tehran won’t back down.

Some Trump administration officials said as long as Tehran continued to attack regional countries and Israel still wanted to strike Iranian targets, it was unlikely the U.S. could easily withdraw from the war. Trump, in his Monday remarks, said he was prepared to continue targeting Iran if the country continued blocking the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. 

Trump won’t stop fighting until he can claim a satisfactory victory, a senior administration official said, especially when the U.S. has a military advantage. Trump has at times been surprised that Tehran won’t cave despite the unrelenting joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign, according to people familiar with his thinking.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Trump has made conflicting statements about the war. Last week, he said he was seeking Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and declined to rule out sending ground troops to the country. On Monday, he told the New York Post he was “nowhere near” issuing such an order. 

After saying on Monday that the war might be over soon, the president added: “We could go further, and we’re going to go further.” Trump has hinted in public, and told aides in private, that he would back the killing of the younger Khamenei if he proves unwilling to cede to U.S. demands, current and former U.S. officials said.

His comments came as oil prices surged—then fell—adding to already existing concern among Trump’s allies over the economic costs and political fallout of the war.

Some of Trump’s advisers in recent days have encouraged him to articulate a plan to extract the U.S. from the war and make the case that the military had largely achieved its objectives, according to people familiar with the matter. While many in the president’s conservative base still support the initial operation, some of the president’s advisers have privately expressed concerns that a longer war could deplete that support. 

Trump has been briefed on some polling about the war, the people said. Public polls released in recent days show that most Americans oppose the war. 

Some of Trump’s advisers watched with alarm as oil prices shot to over $100 a barrel. They have also fielded calls about the midterm elections from some nervous Republicans, according to people familiar with the matter.

“When the price of gas and oil rise, so does everything else. Given affordability was already an issue, this leads to real challenges,” said Stephen Moore, an outside economic adviser to Trump.

Trump’s team concluded in recent days that they needed a more aggressive communications plan to sell the public on the war as many consumers deal with rising gas prices, the people said.

Trump said Monday the U.S. would remove “oil-related sanctions” on some countries to reduce prices, though he didn’t name the nations that might see the measures lifted. He said the U.S. would provide “risk insurance” to tankers operating in the region, adding that the U.S. Navy and its partners would escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz “if it’s needed.”

Trump also said he didn’t “know enough” about a Tomahawk missile strike that killed 175 people at a school in Iran, after initially blaming Tehran for the bombing. “I think it’s something that I was told is under investigation,” he said Monday. He added that he was “willing to live” with a probe about who was responsible for the attack.

U.S. military investigators initially think that American forces likely were responsible, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

The U.S. has hit thousands of Iranian targets, according to U.S. officials, ranging from government buildings to military bases to missile sites. The Trump administration has said its main objective is to prevent Iran from threatening the U.S. or its regional allies by destroying elements of its nuclear work and ballistic missile program. 

Tehran has retaliated by targeting U.S. bases, as well as several countries in the Middle East, with missiles and drones, striking international airports and oil refineries. Seven U.S. servicemembers have been killed and eight others have been seriously wounded since fighting began on Feb. 28, according to U.S. Central Command. 

More than 36,000 Americans have returned to the U.S. from the region, the State Department announced Monday.

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