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STRIKING OUT

Leak Exposes Trump Team’s Plans for Post-Election Shock

The president is desperate to get out of the quagmire that has plagued his second term.

US President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to board Air Force One to travel to South Carolina for a Republican rally ahead of the midterm elections, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US October 21, 2026.

Umit Bektas/Reuters

Donald Trump is weighing up launching a fresh wave of strikes against Iran after the midterms in a desperate bid to end the conflict, according to a report.

The U.S. and Israeli militaries are drawing up plans to dramatically escalate the fighting in the Middle East in November, targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities and weapons arsenal, sources told The New York Times.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss launching the strikes, with both militaries conducting exercises—including flying planes over Iraq to practice maneuvers—in preparation for the bombardment.

U.S. officials believe that renewing attacks on Iran will cripple its economy and pressure Tehran into ending the war, which has dragged on for nearly eight months with no end in sight.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shakes hands with US President Donald Trump onstage during an event at Sparrows Point Shipyard, in Baltimore County, Maryland, October 6, 2026.

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth's hopes to resolve the Iran conflict have hit an impasse.

Eric Lee/Eric Lee/REUTERS

Some planners also believe that another intensive three-day airstrike campaign will be enough to finally break Iran’s resistance.

However, experts doubt renewed strikes would be any more successful than they were when the war first broke out on Feb. 28.

Dana Stroul, who served as the Pentagon’s top Middle East policy official under Joe Biden, said the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that Tehran was on the verge of collapse and that the conflict would soon end.

“At this point in the war, what is clear is that the conventional military campaign waged to date, and the current punishing economic sanctions and American naval blockade, have not brought the regime back to the negotiating table in a meaningful way,” Stroul told the Times.

She added that neither Trump nor Netanyahu “has made a compelling case for how more war would change this strategic dilemma in an increasingly unstable and conflict-ridden region.”

There is also no guarantee that Trump will follow through with plans to renew attacks on Iran after the midterms.

The U.S. was on the verge of launching attacks on Iran earlier this month, but Trump postponed the strikes at the 11th hour.

In an Oct. 8 Truth Social post, Trump vowed that “we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections.”

The erratic and unpredictable 80-year-old president is causing headaches for the Pentagon, with one commander telling the Times that Trump’s constantly shifting position on launching attacks is causing “day-to-day whiplash” among military planners.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Amgen Irish Open 2026, at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, County Clare, Ireland, September 13, 2026.

The war in Iran has helped Trump record dire polling numbers during his second term.

Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

The war in Iran and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz have sent gas and oil prices soaring and resulted in the deaths of 19 U.S. service members.

Intense voter backlash against Trump’s war and the economic disruption it has caused could also doom the GOP in the Nov. 3 elections.

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The upcoming general election in Israel could influence whether a fresh strike on Iran is launched. If Netanyahu loses the Oct. 27 race, he would become a caretaker prime minister and could find it harder to persuade the country to back his war plans.

“If Iran attacks, that’s one thing, but initiating an offensive strike would be extremely difficult for him,” Mazal Mualem, an Israeli political commentator who wrote a biography of Netanyahu, told the Times.

A White House official said the administration does not comment on military plans “that may or may not exist.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Defense Department for comment.

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