FRACTURED HOUSE

Trump Faces Fresh Revolt From His Own Inner Circle

There is chaos behind the scenes on how to handle an all-important issue in the wake of this week’s midterms shellacking.

A split has emerged within President Donald Trump’s inner circle on a key issue, a new report alleges.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper are leading a contingent calling for Trump to resume strikes on Iran, sources tell The Wall Street Journal, while others are pushing for the opposite.

Those reportedly opposing a fresh strike include Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who are urging the president to seek a diplomatic end to the conflict and reopen the Straits of Hormuz to get oil shipments moving—a move they hope will lower gas prices, which has been widely blamed for the GOP’s midterms shellacking.

The Journal reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are pushing the president to escalate the sanctions regime and trade blockade against Tehran.

Trump has continued to defend his decision to go to war despite the political cost, claiming it was necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The conflict, and the spiking domestic prices it has caused, were among the key reasons for the Republicans’ sweeping defeat in the midterms. Vance dramatically broke with the president in an X post after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress, singling out the war as the reason.

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Vance has been involved in a series of unsuccessful negotiations with Iran to end the conflict, now in its ninth month.

Trump launched the attack alongside Israel in February with a strike that assassinated Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. But since then, Iran has secured a stranglehold over the strategically vital Strats of Hormuz, and has attacked the U.S. and its regional allies.

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It remains unclear what course Trump will take, with the president previously having threatened Iran with obliteration unless it backs down and accepts U.S. demands.

“Now we will make a decision,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You’ll know soon enough.”

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