Donald Trump’s top advisers at the White House have warned the 80-year-old that the Iran war could drag on beyond his presidency.
Vice President JD Vance, 42, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 55, have both told the president that Tehran could hold out against U.S. military attacks and economic pressure until his term ends in 2029, according to officials who spoke with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
That contrasts sharply with Trump’s public messaging. He said on Wednesday that the war—which began in February—will end immediately after the midterms in November because Iran “can’t hold out any longer.”
Trump has set deadlines for an end to his war with Iran before. Since launching it in February, he has variously said that it would last a “few weeks,” that it was already “over,” and that it could last “forever.”
Vance and Rubio are widely seen as the most likely candidates to replace Trump at the top of the Republican ticket in two years’ time, though neither has publicly confirmed they will run. Neither will want a costly and unpopular war on their plate while trying to win over voters.
Pete Hegseth, 46, seems to share their assessment. The Defense Secretary has quietly ordered more troops into the Middle East over the past several weeks and told other military forces, including air-defense units, to prepare to stay in the region until 2027 and beyond.
Iran’s repeated closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping corridor in the Middle East, has sent U.S. gas prices skyrocketing. Disruptions to global supply have also had a knock-on effect on inflation, which Trump pledged and has so far failed to curb.
Crude oil prices rose above $100 a barrel for the fourth time since hostilities began on Wednesday, after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, on Tuesday.
Voters have consistently ranked the conflict and cost-of-living concerns among their chief anxieties heading into midterms, helping Democrats secure an almost eight-point lead over Republicans.
Trump, who has denied unaffordability as a Democratic “hoax,” announced his latest timeline for an end to the conflict ahead of speaking at the GOP’s first-ever midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
