Prepare a lot of popcorn.
“President Trump said Iran is miscalculating if it thinks he will soften his position to avoid a prolonged standoff with Tehran.
"They thought they were going to outwait me," Trump said on Wednesday at a cabinet meeting. "'He's got the midterms [they thought].' I don't care about the midterms. Look what happened last night."
Trump was referring to Ken Paxton's victory in the Republican-primary runoff in Texas in which he defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn with the president's endorsement.
Trump's popularity has sagged during the three-month-long U.S. war with Iran as the Strait of Hormuz has remained closed, inflation has continued and gas prices have climbed.
Trump signaled that he is prepared to keep negotiating but didn't exclude more military action. He said Iran's economy is operating on "fumes."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration prefers a diplomatic settlement. But he added that the "bottom line is that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon."
Republicans have been sounding the alarm that the Iran war could depress GOP voter turnout and lead to a blowout loss during the November midterm elections. Before the conflict, nonpartisan analysts said Democrats were favored to win the House and compete for the Senate.
Trump has acknowledged concerns about the political consequences of a prolonged conflict. He has sought to reassure voters that a deal is nearly at hand even as the U.S. and Iran haven't agreed on key issues, including whether and how to dispose of Tehran's cache of highly enriched uranium.
They have discussed a phased approach in which the Strait of Hormuz would be opened, while the details of an agreement on Iran's nuclear efforts would be addressed in a second stage.
Asked later if he would accept a deal under which Iran and Oman would share control over the strait, Trump said the waterway must be open to everyone, adding that the U.S. would "watch over it." He said, "Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow them up."
Trump described the Paxton victory as "the prelude to the midterms." The public can stomach the conflict, Trump said, because "people understand it -- they know that, very simply, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I'm doing that for the world."
While Trump has avoided the use of ground troops in Iran, some of the top objectives that he set out at the conflict's beginning haven't been achieved. Iran's regime is in place, many of its missiles remain and Tehran has flexed its muscles by demonstrating it can to disrupt oil flows.
Despite fighting this week, a broad truce remains in place.
Iran's supply of highly enriched uranium grew after Trump withdrew in 2018 from the nuclear accord that was negotiated during the Obama administration. Democrats and Republicans have engaged in a finger-pointing exercise on which administration is mainly responsible for Iran's ability to expand its nuclear efforts.
Trump rejected the idea of allowing Iran to turn over its stockpile of enriched uranium to either China or Russia. "That would not make me comfortable," he said.
More than 11 tons of uranium enriched at levels up to 20% was shipped to Russia as part of the now defunct 2015 nuclear deal that lifted economic sanctions against Iran.” [1]
1. World News: Trump Eyes War's Political Effects --- President says Iran is wrong to think elections would guide his decisions. Gordon, Michael R; Wegmann, Philip. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 28 May 2026: A6.
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