<p>President Donald Trump has put a date on the end of the Iran war: right after the November midterm elections. On the same day, The Wall Street Journal reported that his own top advisers have privately told him it could last through the rest of his presidency.</p>
<p>"I think war is going to end immediately after the election because they can't hold out any longer. They're desperate to try and affect the election," Trump told reporters Wednesday, according to Reuters.</p>
<p>He repeated the claim hours later in Dallas, at the Republican Party's midterm convention. "The war will be over very shortly after the election," Trump said, per NBC News. "They're hanging out for dear life, hoping that we lose, so they can deal with dumb, weak Democrats, and they can have their nuclear bomb. But we're not going to let that happen."</p>
<h2>What the report says</h2>
<p>The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing U.S. officials, that top White House advisers — including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — have privately warned Trump the conflict with Iran could extend through the remainder of his term. The warnings came in private discussions in the Oval Office and the Situation Room, the Journal said, and raised the possibility the war runs past Inauguration Day in January 2029.</p>
<p>Reuters, which relayed the report, said it could not immediately verify it. The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The Journal's own summary of its story noted that "the president still says he expects the war will end 'immediately' after midterm elections this fall."</p>
<p>This is a report, not a confirmed account. The Frank has not independently verified it.</p>
<h2>The war Trump said would take weeks</h2>
<p>The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February, partly over concerns about Tehran's nuclear program, Reuters reported. Iran says its nuclear activities are peaceful. Trump had once predicted the fighting would last four or five weeks, NBC News reported; it is now in its seventh month by NBC's count, and Reuters describes it as six months old.</p>
<p>Trump also renewed his threat against Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified Iranian site with two deeply buried tunnel complexes near the damaged Natanz enrichment facility. "We notice there's a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard," he said in the convention speech, according to Reuters, which noted he has been threatening strikes there since at least mid-July.</p>
<p>Reuters reported Trump acknowledged diplomatic talks remain a possibility but are not his preference.</p>
<h2>The pressure behind the prediction</h2>
<p>Iran said it attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers — the biggest wave of attacks on shipping since the war began, Reuters reported. Brent crude hovered above $100 a barrel. Just seven vessels transited the strait Wednesday, half the 10-day average, according to preliminary ship-tracking data cited by Reuters.</p>
<p>The war and the fuel prices that followed have driven Trump's popularity to record lows, Reuters reported. An NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey found 69% of Americans disapprove of his handling of the war, and the share of Republicans who strongly approve has fallen 18 points since the spring, to 30%.</p>
<p>Trump's argument in Dallas was that the trade-off is worth it. "Does anybody here think that Iran should have a nuclear weapon? Anybody?" he asked the crowd, NBC reported. The answer came back: "No!"</p>
<p><em>Sources: Reuters, NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post.</em></p>
Sep 19, 2026