Donald Trump's Pentagon told CENTCOM several days ago to finish its preparations for resuming major combat in Iran. The order says nothing about when.
Trump did. He told a crowd in Denton, Texas, on Oct. 1 that the war would be won "right after the election." The vote is Nov. 3, 26 days away. On Wednesday Axios reported the order; U.S. and Israeli sources told Axios the strikes could come before the midterms. On Thursday Trump answered on Truth Social: the United States "Will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections." Oil had jumped on the reports. It stayed more than 3% higher after his post.
The war has not waited for him. Houthi strikes on Riyadh and Abha airports this week killed three people, Saudi authorities said Wednesday. On Thursday the Houthis fired two ballistic missiles at Riyadh, which Saudi authorities say they intercepted; the fragments fell on a children's nursery and a medical clinic. Brent passed $105 in early trading. Gas is $4.36 a gallon, 45% more than the day the war began on Feb. 28. Trump has turned down Saudi requests to direct American airstrikes, while more than 200 U.S. analysts sit in Saudi command centers. He is keeping the restart for his own timing.
Trump told his Cabinet in May what he thinks of the vote he is now a month from. "I don't care about the midterms," he said on camera on May 27, and Pete Hegseth, whose Pentagon now carries the order to CENTCOM, looked at the floor. Narativ reported each of those lines when he said them.
