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Welcome to The Logoff: When will Donald Trump’s war with Iran end?
What is happening? The US and Israel have now spent 11 days attacking targets in Iran, killing the country’s top leader and destroying Iran’s missile and naval assets. But it’s unclear where they go from here, and you’ll get different answers depending on who you ask.
Trump, on Monday: “I think the war is very, very much over.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, today: “When (Trump) decides the military objectives have been achieved … and that Iran is in a position of full and unconditional surrender.”
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, too today: “I don’t know.”
What are the options, really? As my colleague Zack Beauchamp has reported“Unconditional surrender” – and the friendlier US leadership that Trump has said he wants – is unlikely under the current circumstances. Instead, the most likely outcome is a negotiated settlement, or Trump simply deciding to claim victory and go home.
Why this matter? This is not a new problem for the Trump administration, it has been he can’t explain why did it take the US to war. But it will get worse as the war continues with gas – followed by just about everything else – it becomes more expensive. American casualties are also mounting: Eight servicemen are dead, and nearly 140 are wounded, according to the Pentagon.
Meanwhile, the United States and Israel are attacking Tehran, a city of more than 9 million people. Israel’s strike against gas stations over the weekend has led dangerous acid rain falling from the sky, and strikes have also caused widespread power outages. On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced “our strongest day yet of strikes inside Iran.”
“If they continue to hit Tehran like this for 10 days,” one resident said he told the New York Times“nothing will be left in Tehran.”
And so, it’s time to leave…
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