President Trump was fed up.
During a recent meeting in the Oval Office, he launched into a tirade against Iranian leaders, calling them scumbags and lunatics, and unleashing a series of expletives, according to a person who heard the comments.
As the war in Iran enters its fifth month, Trump is increasingly frustrated that a conflict he once thought would be over in a matter of weeks has dragged on with no end in sight, administration officials and others close to the president said.
Some of Trump’s advisers now worry that the war—which has resulted in higher prices, falling approval ratings and the deaths of more than a dozen U.S. servicemembers—is consuming his presidency and damaging Republicans’ already dim prospects in the coming midterm elections.
Trump has been trying to wind down the war for months. He announced a ceasefire in April after he threatened to end Iran’s “whole civilization.” In June, he said the U.S. and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But the brief periods of calm quickly gave way to continued fighting.
The president in recent days has grown skeptical that negotiations with Iran can produce a lasting peace, according to people familiar with the matter. A senior administration official said Trump believes that the only thing Iran understands is military force, adding that he was in “revenge mode” against Tehran. The president, the official said, sees few good options besides continuing strikes.
Over the past two weeks, Washington and Tehran have exchanged fire, ramping up the conflict after the fragile ceasefire quickly frayed. On Wednesday, Houthi militants fired on two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, sending oil prices skyrocketing. Trump threatened to unleash a “major military punishment” against Iran if Houthi militants continued their attacks.
The U.S. is surging forces , medics and weaponry to the Middle East to give Trump more muscular military options should he choose to escalate. Iran has been able to weather previous waves of airstrikes, and a sustained U.S. military campaign risks further eroding munitions stocks and public support.
“The United States signed an MOU with Iran and they broke it, shot at commercial ships, and killed American soldiers. President Trump is not going to stand by and allow this terrorist behavior to occur,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. She added that Iran was paying for its behavior and would continue to pay “until they come to the table in what President Trump deems a meaningful way.”
The war has ratcheted up tensions with Israel, Trump’s closest partner in the fight.
Trump has expressed frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , at times telling aides that he doesn’t want to talk to him or meet with him, the senior administration official said. The Israelis have sought to organize a meeting between Netanyahu and Trump, the official said. Netanyahu was expected to come to the U.S. next week to attend the funeral for Sen. Lindsey Graham , but the plans haven’t been made final.
The Israeli embassy in Washington didn’t comment.
The war has taken a personal toll on the president and some of his senior advisers. Some top aides have been advised by intelligence agencies that the Iranians are seeking to kill them and have been told to stop taking car services, according to people familiar with the matter.
While he was in Turkey for a summit of international leaders, Trump was briefed on intelligence from Israel that indicated a new Iranian plan to kill him. The plot, which one administration official described as aspirational and other U.S. officials deemed not credible, was one factor in the president’s decision to fly an older version of Air Force One out of Turkey, which shares a border with Iran. Some officials worried that the Qatari-gifted luxury jet that Trump flew on to Turkey lacked sufficient defensive capabilities , The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Trump was furious when the New York Times first reported on the reason for the decision to switch planes. He was frustrated that the news leaked so quickly, arguing to aides that it was a security threat, officials said. Some administration officials have been asked to turn over their phones as the president’s team seeks to determine who leaked the news. Trump has asked his aides for regular updates.
As the war lingers, Trump has grown less confident that the U.S. and Iran can find a diplomatic solution to the conflict. He has complained to advisers that it is difficult to know who speaks for top leadership, and every time the U.S. thinks it has made progress at the negotiating table, Iran continues its attacks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Last month, the president was so excited at the prospect of signing the memorandum of understanding with Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that he was dismissive of Republican allies who said the Iranians would never stick to the agreement, according to a senior administration official. He wanted it to be over, Trump told them.
The president’s two top negotiators, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff , still think a deal with the Iranians is possible, the people said. But other advisers have expressed skepticism that a peace agreement is possible.
The war is splitting the conservative coalition over which Trump once had an iron grip, worrying some Republicans close to the White House. Longtime Trump allies such as Fox News host Laura Ingraham have used their platforms to express concerns about how the war might affect Republicans in November’s midterm elections. On Monday she said the “clock is ticking” to the midterms.
“Netanyahu has led us into a horrible conflict filled with lies,” Steve Bannon , a longtime Trump adviser, said. “People can see with their own eyes what’s going on.”
Top White House aides are trying to pivot to the economy. This week, Trump attended a dignified transfer of the four U.S. servicemembers who were recently killed in the Middle East, then traveled to Georgia where he touted initiatives such as the new Trump accounts to help parents save for their children’s future and address high costs.
“If you are paying a little bit more—a lot of it’s come down now—we got it coming down very rapidly,” Trump told a crowd at a Georgia high school.
Trump told advisers in an Oval Office meeting in June that they needed to pressure gasoline retailers and oil companies to reduce prices and that the companies should do it because of everything he had done for them, according to people familiar with the matter.
Aides have convened a series of meetings to discuss ways to try to drive gas prices down before the midterm elections. Trump is less focused on the midterms fallout from the war than are his advisers and Republicans in Congress, according to people who have spoken to him.
Trump has privately and publicly remained committed to his view that Iran shouldn’t be able to have a nuclear weapon. And he has told people that he thinks he can break the Iranians’ will through an aggressive bombing campaign, according to a person familiar with his views.
“I believe he thinks he gave peace a chance,” said Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “He’s going back to Plan A, which is the military operation.”
Write to Annie Linskey at annie.linskey@wsj.com and Josh Dawsey at Joshua.Dawsey@WSJ.com
