Story summary
President Donald Trump is considering declaring the Iran war over, despite the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran. The decision comes as the US has lost 18 service members in the conflict and global energy prices have spiked.
Trump's administration has been trying to downplay the severity of the war, with Vice President JD Vance suggesting that the conflict had cooled despite a recent exchange of intense fire between US and Iranian forces. Trump himself called the war "small potatoes" when pressed by reporters about the record-setting deployments of service members.
The widow of an airman killed in the campaign against Iran has alleged that she has been denied military benefits because the Trump administration has not formally declared war. This raises questions about the implications of declaring the conflict over, including whether it would mean denying benefits to families of those who have lost their lives.
Meanwhile, the US is still trying to achieve its main aim of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, but so far, this goal has not been achieved. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) remains in charge in Tehran, and Iran still possesses enriched uranium.
There are concerns that declaring the war over would be seen as a public relations effort meant to boost Trump's party in the lead-up to the midterm elections. However, it is unclear what this would achieve or how it would impact the conflict itself.
Written for “Trump Downplays Iranian War” on 2026-09-10,
grounded in this article and the 16 other(s) covering the same event.
Yet again, the United States has got itself into a quagmire: a war that President Donald Trump does not know how to end and the Iranian regime does not want to end.
asserted
regime → get → that
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth was "quietly extending troop deployments" into 2027, taken as a sign the conflict could drag on well into next year.
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conflict → report → year
The Journal also reported that at the same time, Trump had been in discussions with senior aides about whether to officially declare the war over, with officials reportedly noting that the president "favours the idea".
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president → report → idea
This is quite a bizarre notion: a president declaring a war over despite both sides still firing at each other, the Strait of Hormuz still largely crippled and Iran still in possession of enriched uranium.
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Iran → declare → uranium
The main aim of the war — to ensure that Iran could never have nuclear weapons — has clearly not been achieved.
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Iran → ensure → weapons
Iran still has supplies of highly enriched uranium in a hidden location.
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Iran → have → location
Then, once the war was underway, Trump said a key aim was regime change.
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aim → say → ?
That also has not happened.
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That → happen → ?
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is still effectively in charge in Tehran with, if anything, a more hardline leader after Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei took over from his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the early days of the war.
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who → take → war
Then, as it was clear the US and Israel were not going to achieve either of those two aims, the goalpost shifted again.
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goalpost → go → aims
The new goal was reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway used to transport about 20 per cent of the world's crude oil and gas.
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goal → reopen → oil
That strait was, of course, open and functioning well before the US and Israel decided to go to war.
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US → function → war
Now, only a trickle of tankers pass through as insurance companies around the world are reluctant to offer coverage.
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companies → pass → coverage
So now, having failed on those three aims, Trump is reportedly considering declaring the war over, and presumably claiming victory.
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Trump → fail → victory
It all comes as the US has sought to widen its war against Iran, with new waves of strikes resuming last week and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier announcing a plan to inflict "economic asphyxiation" on the regime.
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Bessent → come → regime
Without question, both the US and Iran are feeling pain from this war.
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US → feel → war
In Iran, the IRGC, having survived the shock and awe of American and Israeli military air power, is not about to yield to internal discontent over diminishing supplies of petrol, food and other goods.
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IRGC → survive → petrol
He is, to some extent, insulated from electoral consequences because he cannot run for another term despite his taunts to the contrary.
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he → run → contrary
But his Republican Party faces a different reality.
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Party → face → reality
Pressure points in a protracted war
Two significant pressure points now weigh on Trump.
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points → protract → Trump
The first is growing concern among the Republican Party and the second is growing discontent from Washington's traditional allies among the Gulf states.
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second → grow → states
As to the Republicans, this week Trump will try to rally the Trump MAGA faithful at what he has framed as "a midterm convention" in Texas.
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he → try → Texas
The Dallas rally comes as Republicans face the possibility of losing control of the House of Representatives and perhaps even the Senate in the midterm elections in November.
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Republicans → come → November
The fact that Democrats have any chance of taking control of the Senate is itself a testament to how unpopular the Trump administration is.
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administration → take → Senate
The Democrats remain divided as they try to assess whether voters around the country want highly progressive candidates, like New York mayor and self-declared democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, or more centrist candidates.
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voters → remain → Mamdani
For the first year of the second Trump presidency, the president often demonstrated an instinctive ability to channel the frustrations and anger of his core constituency.
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president → demonstrate → constituency
But that shrewd political instinct seems increasingly to be abandoning him.
The most obvious example of this came recently when he effectively declared a trade war against Canada.
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he → seem → Canada
Few countries have cultural ties with the US as deep as those shared with Canada.
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countries → have → Canada
Over decades, that relationship has become integrated in everything from trade and security to sport and culture.
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relationship → integrate → sport
According to the US Census Bureau, for 25 states, their largest customer is Canada.
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customer → accord → states
US goods exported to Canada were worth $US333.6 billion ($463.4 billion) in 2025, and goods imported from Canada were worth $US381.0 billion, according to the US Census Bureau.
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goods → export → Bureau
Thirteen US states share a border with Canada: Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.
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states → share → Alaska
For these states, the flow of trucks taking goods both ways across the border is part of daily life.
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flow → take → life
And yet Trump has decided, with crucial midterm elections looming, to wreak havoc with this trade.
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elections → decide → trade
On top of the Iran war and several other issues, for some Republicans who represent states along the border, the new trade war could be the final straw.
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war → represent → border
I recently spoke to a Republican congressman who is a representative from one of those states, and a strong Trump supporter.
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who → speak → states
When I first met him two months ago, he was defending Trump on the Iran war and had a positive outlook towards the midterm elections.
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he → meet → elections
He told me he was certain the Republicans would hold the House.
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Republicans → tell → House
But when I saw him this week, his political outlook had changed.
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outlook → see → him
When asked about the Trump tariffs and the Canada trade war, he shook his head.
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he → ask → head
…and 7 more, not listed.
