Iran War Day 256: Trump Says Escalation ‘Unlikely’

President Donald Trump said Monday that the threat from Iran had been subdued and the U.S. probably wouldn’t escalate the war. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said he had an “excellent conversation” with the prime minister of Qatar, who had conveyed that the Gulf Arab states preferred the “status quo” to escalation.

“Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East, the United States of America is ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to go,” Trump wrote. “At this point, however, that seems to be quite unlikely.”

Trump told reporters the same day that the Iran War “militarily is effectively over.” America continues to move military equipment and an aircraft carrier to the Middle East, and Trump in recent months had repeatedly suggested he would renew hostilities to bring the “hammer” down on Iran.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is scheduled to hold a rare Pentagon news briefing Tuesday morning to address the effort in the House of Representatives to impeach him over his handling of the Iran War.

Monday brought more evidence that the Iran War was a major factor in the Republican Party’s midterm election rout last week. Forty-four percent of Americans said a candidate’s backing of the Iran War made them less likely to vote for that candidate, while only 13 percent said it made them more likely to do so, according to a survey by the Institute for Global Affairs at the Eurasia Group. Most Americans said the U.S. should prioritize avoiding higher prices in America even if that means not reaching military goals against Iran, the study found.

Oil prices have plunged since early last week as Trump has downplayed the chances of more war and the Democrats’ sweeping midterms victories raised hopes that the U.S. president would be reined in. Brent crude opened at $92.45 per barrel Tuesday morning, while the average price of regular gasoline in America fell below $4 per gallon for the first time since July.