President Donald Trump is weighing a fresh round of strikes against Iran ahead of next month’s midterm elections, with the White House reportedly looking at options that could deliver a “win” for the president before voters cast their ballots.
The White House has instructed the Pentagon to draw up potential attacks on Iranian targets that could be carried out before Election Day, according to a Wednesday report from The Atlantic’s Nancy A. Youssef and Jonathan Lemire, which cited two administration officials.
No final decision has been made. Officials are still discussing the scope of any operation and which targets could be hit, and U.S. Central Command is developing the options, the report said.
The discussions come after several weeks without U.S. strikes on Iran. The conflict has proven unpopular, and the jump in gas prices that came with it is weighing heavily on Republicans as they fight to hold onto control of Congress.
Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton acknowledged the challenge in newly leaked audio, describing the war and the affordability concerns that followed as his campaign’s “biggest problem.”
Supporters of renewed military action, however, believe a limited operation could give the GOP a lift heading into the final stretch of the campaign.
“It would make the president look like he got a win and that gas prices would start going down,” one Republican familiar with the discussions told The Atlantic.
Even backers of the idea reportedly concede that such an operation would not immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, push Tehran to the negotiating table or lower gas prices by Election Day.
Trump himself has continued to float the possibility of renewed military action. In a recent interview with Time, the president said the U.S. has “been stocking up for the last six months.”
During his address to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump said he faced a “big decision” over whether to “annihilate” Iran.
Still, the president’s advisers reportedly prefer to hold off on resuming strikes until after the midterms. They have warned that another escalation, especially one that results in more American casualties, could put the unpopular war back in the headlines at the worst possible time for Republicans.
But the final call rests with the commander in chief, and the White House is making clear nothing is off the table.
One White House official told The Atlantic that Trump “has all options available at any time.”
