Trump Weighs Iran Strikes as Households Pay More

Some advisers to President Donald Trump have urged him to decide within weeks whether to restart major combat operations in Iran, with two U.S. officials saying they told him to act within the next eight weeks. The decision sits with the president and his circle of officials, while voters are already facing higher costs and the consequences of a war they did not choose.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) warned last December, “You can't call it a hoax and suggest that people are going to believe it.” The remark addressed the administration’s dismissal of affordability concerns, even as prices rose and the war became an election issue.

The decision stays at the top

The Wall Street Journal reported that advisers and foreign allies were working to shape Trump's choice between ending the war and reigniting it after the midterms. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper supported a return to major combat operations during recent briefings on military options, officials said. Several hawkish outside advisers called Trump after Election Day and argued his legacy depended on forcing Iran to surrender its nuclear program. Other outside advisers urged him to end the war.

Vice President JD Vance questioned on social media whether the war was worthwhile. Before posting, he told Trump he intended to blame the Republican defeat on the war, U.S. officials said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advocated tightening sanctions and continuing the blockade on Iranian trade. Special envoy Steve Witkoff, like Vance, sought Trump's continued backing for diplomatic efforts to reach a deal ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program offered up to $20 million for information about Iran's nuclear program, assets or associated individuals. “If you have information on Iran's nuclear program, assets, or associated individuals, send it to us via Signal or our Tor-based tip line. You may be eligible for a reward and relocation,” the program said in an announcement posted to X. The department said it sought information about “nuclear scientists and staff, nuclear program-related technologies, and capabilities, associated organizations and personnel.”

Washington and Tehran continued negotiations over Iran's nuclear program as Trump considered renewed strikes. Trump met with his national security team Thursday to consider them, after promising to wait until after the midterms. Senior U.S. officials told Fox News that Nov. 9 would bring a new moon in the Middle East, with little to no moonlight, a condition favorable for military operations. U.S. Central Command was finalizing preparations for a possible resumption of major operations in Iran but had not received a new directive from Washington, reports citing a U.S. official said.

The costs arrive outside the briefing room

Trump said Thursday that Washington would “make a decision” on resuming the war. He asked, “Do we want to go further” with strikes to ensure Iran's nuclear program is dead and “it will never happen again?” He also said, “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You'll know soon enough.” Trump reiterated Friday that Iran would never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, referring to previous U.S. military operations against Tehran's nuclear facilities.

Fortune reported that gas prices had risen 40% since the war began in February, and averaged $4.12 a gallon after the midterm results, about $1 more than a year earlier. Even in the most optimistic scenario, prices could take three months after a ceasefire to return to prewar levels. Ground beef cost $6.79 a pound in September, up 22% since Trump returned to office. Inflation reached 3.7% over the year through September, with energy driving roughly 40% of the increase. The U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran in the fifth year of the conflict, according to the key-date record.

Trump acknowledged on election night that the Iran war had played a role in Republican losses in both chambers of Congress, Fortune reported. He told Fox News the public was unwilling to tolerate high gas prices and told The New York Times that night he had known voters were unhappy about them. In the national exit poll, 89% of voters called the cost of living crucial or a major factor in their vote, second to government corruption at 90%. NBC's exit poll found Republicans had lost their advantage on the economy.

Ballots, promises, and the price tag

Trump had called affordability a Democratic “con job” at a Cabinet meeting last December and a “fake word made up by the Democrats” at the G7 summit in June. At the Republican convention in September, he said, “They use the word affordability, right? It's fake.” When oil prices rose in March, Trump wrote that prices would fall once the Iran threat was over and that “ONLY FOOLS” would not see higher costs as a small price to pay.

After the midterm results, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats intended to end the war and lower costs, promising “relief is on the way.” Fortune reported that most Democratic winners in the midterms were moderates who campaigned on costs. The article identifies no grassroots, self-organized response to the war; the described choices remain with officials, advisers, military command and electoral parties.