Republicans are desperately hoping Donald Trump’s war in Iran will end soon over fears it will severely damage the GOP in the midterms.
Speaking to Politico’s Playbook newsletter, one Republican strategist close to the White House said they had “no problem blowing up the Iranians,” but were concerned about how much time the Middle East conflict could consume in the run-up to November’s elections.
“When you’re at war, that is 75 percent of your time. This is what [chief of staff Susie Wiles] is gonna be doing, this is what [deputy chief of staff] James Blair will be doing. This is what senior staff will be dealing with. And that is a problem,” the insider said.
“It needs to get over quick, otherwise this is a f—ing nightmare. It already is a nightmare, because you’ve got the MAGA coalition just tearing at the seams. Anything in a game of subtraction right now is f—ing disastrous,” they added.
The unnamed Republican said hurting the GOP’s base would be “catastrophic” for the party in an election year, and that the Trump administration needs to fully explain its justification for striking Iran and outline its broader objectives, and “frankly, to do it pretty quickly.”
Trump’s decision to join Israel in bombing Iran is already proving deeply unpopular and has resulted in the deaths of six U.S. servicemembers. A Reuters poll found that just 27 percent of Americans approve of the strikes, with multiple MAGA figures also blasting the “America First” president for launching a war after campaigning in 2024 on a vow to avoid new conflicts.
There have also been widespread concerns about what the U.S. hopes to achieve by attacking Iran, and whether it has been dragged into another “forever war” without a clear justification.
Trump’s claims that the Iranian regime was building missiles that “could soon reach the American homeland,” or was about to launch an unprovoked attack on U.S. forces or bases in the Middle East, have not been supported by official intelligence. The president has also suggested the strikes could pave the way for regime change following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, though no clear plan has been outlined for how that would be achieved.
The “peace president” has suggested the war could last as long as four or five weeks but also warned it could continue “far longer than that.”
Voters are likely to express their disapproval with Trump’s war in Iran at the ballot box in November. Republicans are already expected to face a tough battle to hold the House, given their razor-thin majority, and backlash to Trump’s second term could also put the Senate in play for Democrats.
Speaking to Playbook, one House Republican said lawmakers “want clear objectives, clearer than they are now,” regarding Iran.
Another warned that Trump’s rationale for the conflict “sounds a little bit like President Lyndon B. Johnson going into Vietnam,” a reference to the Democrat who dramatically escalated U.S. involvement in the war after succeeding John F. Kennedy in the White House.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt brushed off concerns in a statement to the Daily Beast, however.
“President Trump makes decisions based on what’s in the best interest of the United States and the American people. In this case, the President’s decision to launch Operation Epic Fury is one that presidents of both parties have contemplated for more than fifty years, but none had the courage to execute. Right now, the White House’s main priority is working alongside the Pentagon and the interagencies to ensure the continued and ultimate success of the operation,” she said.
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