U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing a powerful strike on Iran to try and show American strength ahead of the upcoming crucial midterm elections that may be defined by the war efforts.
The President’s favorability numbers have sunk since the strikes began in February, with Democrats favored to take back the House and a chance to regain the Senate.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is being asked to put together options for strikes against Iran ahead of the midterms, two White House officials told The Atlantic.
The officials said Trump wants to show voters he is serious about lowering gas prices and moving toward an end of the Iran conflict prior to the November 3 elections.
‘The Commander-in-Chief has all options available at any time,’ according to a White House official, per DailyMail.
‘President Trump holds all the cards and will do whatever is best for the United States.’
The official reiterated President Trump’s belief that the war is close to ending with an American victory.
‘The United States is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian economy collapsing. Iran has been decimated, and things will go one of two ways; the easy way or the hard way,’ they said.
A Pentagon official didn’t comment on the report but told the Mail that its job is ‘to develop and present military options to the President.’
Officials said that the size and targets of the strikes are still up for debate and being developed by US Central Command and no final decision has been made.
However, even the administration knows that these strikes alone would not get Iran to negotiate or lower gas prices but that voters could start to see progress.
‘It would make the president look like he got a win and that gas prices would start going down,’ one Republican familiar with negotiations said.
