West Palm Beach, Florida — In the two weeks since the launch of the United States and Israel Strikes on Iranpresident Donald Trump He has been increasingly hampered politically.
He became more agitated with the news coverage and he did Failed to find a way To explain why he started the war—or how he would end it—which resonates with A concerned public Because of American deaths in the conflict, High oil prices And drop Financial markets. until Some of his supporters They question his plan and his comprehensiveness Poll numbers is declining.
Meanwhile, Moscow is getting a boost from the early days of the war after Trump eased sanctions on some Russian oil shipments. This, coupled with rising oil prices, has undermined years-long efforts to reduce President Vladimir Putin’s ability to do so. Waging war in Ukraine.
Then there Democrats left reeling After Trump wins the 2024 election. With control of Congress at stake November midterm electionsthe party has come together to oppose Trump’s Iran policy and points to the economic turmoil as evidence that Republicans have not kept their promises To reduce daily costs.
“I think Democrats are in a good position for next November and the midterms,” said Kelly Dietrich, CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee, which trains party supporters to run for office and staff campaigns.
Dietrich said the past two weeks show that the Trump administration has failed in long-term planning. “They are flying at full speed, and the rest of us are paying the price,” he said.
On Saturday, Trump spent hours at his home West Palm Beach Golf ClubFlorida, before attending a closed-door fundraiser for him MAGA company Super PAC at his home in Mar-a-Lago.
And last weekend, he also played a round of golf at one of his other South Florida properties a day after witnessing the gracious transfer of six players American soldiers He was killed in the Iran war. Which The death toll rose This last week.
Increasingly Trump Complain about the media Covering the conflict, she wrote on Saturday: “The media actually wants us to lose the war.” for him The broadcast regulator later threatened To withdraw broadcasting licenses unless you “correct course”.
President — who kept Allies other than Israel are in the dark On his war plans against Iran – he also indicated for the first time that the United States would need to rely on the international community to help oil tankers move through the region. Strait of HormuzTransportation was severely disrupted, sending global energy markets into chaos.
Iran said it plans to do so He continued the attacks on energy infrastructure and using its effective closure of the Strait as leverage against the United States and Israel. A fifth of the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway.
“Many countries, especially those affected by Iran’s attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz, will be sending warships, in cooperation with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe,” Trump wrote on Saturday, later adding: “This should always have been a team effort.”
It was not clear whether this multi-state push was scheduled to begin or if Trump was just hoping it would. That’s because he also wrote: “I hope that China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and other affected countries” will “send ships to the region so that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer” threatened by Iran.
The White House did not provide further details or clarity on what Trump’s post meant. But the British Ministry of Defense said on Saturday: “We are currently discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region,” without providing details.
Trump had pledged at the beginning of the war that US naval ships would escort tankers through the waterway. But that hasn’t happened yet. “It will happen soon. Very soon,” he insisted as he boarded Air Force One for Florida on Friday night.
However, questions about the Strait continue to undermine Trump’s recent statement during a rally in Kentucky: “We won.”
“You know, you never like to say too soon that you won. We won,” he said. “We won, in the first hour, it was over.”
As the US Treasury Department announced last week: 30-day exemption from Russian sanctions With the aim of freeing Russian oil shipments stuck at sea to help mitigate Shortage of supply resulting from the Iran war.
This is despite analysts saying that the rise in oil prices due to the cessation of production in the Arabian Gulf is the same Which benefits the Russian economy. Moscow relies heavily on oil revenues to finance its war on Ukraine, and sanctions have been the same Increasing obstacle.
Some of Washington’s key allies have criticized the move as enabling Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described easing sanctions as “not the right decision” and “certainly does not help peace” because it leads to “strengthening Russia’s position.”
With the midterm races now starting to heat up, Trump was asked Friday night about it His message to voters Who think gas is too expensive.
“You’re going to see a very big drop in the prices of gasoline and gas and anything that has to do with energy once this is over,” Trump said.
The longer the conflict continues, the clearer the questions become about the midterm elections. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, suggested on Fox News last week that if gas and oil prices continue to remain high “we will see a disastrous election” for the Republican Party.
Iran even has it Trump’s base is divided over the “Make America Great Again” slogan.Among those who support the measure are others who say Trump has explicitly campaigned on ending wars.
Prominent figures on the right, including Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, have harshly criticized Trump. However, Trump continued to insist that he created the MAGA movement and that it would follow him anywhere and on any issue.
The political turmoil has led some Democrats to expect their party to make midterm gains that rival the 2018 “blue wave” elections during Trump’s first term.
“Democrats just have to keep reminding people that he promised to lower prices, and they’re still going up,” Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said of Trump. “And now it will go up even more because gasoline prices could increase the prices of everything else, including at the grocery store.”