In his widely anticipated speech to the nation, President Donald Trump said we were winning, without declaring victory. He boasted that military objectives were met ahead of schedule, but offered no date to end the war. “Tonight, Iran’s navy is gone. Their air force is in ruins. Their leaders, most of them,” Trump said, “are now dead.” Nevertheless, the war must go on. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Age, where they belong,” he said. “In the meantime, discussions are ongoing.”
The president is threading a delicate needle. While his war on Iran is still overwhelmingly popular with his base, the majority of Americans disapprove. Gas prices have hit $4 a gallon. Markets are nervous. Iran is charging tankers for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Many in Washington expected the president to announce an exit ramp. Politico reporter Dasha Burns posted on X: “POTUS will use his address tonight to declare that the war in Iran is winding down.”
