US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the war with Iran would end “immediately after” the American midterm elections in November, arguing that Tehran could not withstand US economic pressure much longer.
“I think war is going to end immediately after the election because they can’t hold out any longer. They’re desperate to try and affect the election,” Trump told reporters before departing for the Republican National Convention.
The president claimed Iran was attempting to influence the November vote, though he offered no evidence for the assertion. He framed the conflict’s expected conclusion around the electoral calendar rather than any diplomatic timeline or battlefield development.
Trump also linked energy prices to the same timeframe. He said oil and gas costs, which have risen during the conflict, would not fall until “right after” the midterms. Elevated prices at the pump have followed months of fighting in the region.
The comments tie two politically sensitive issues — the war and the cost of fuel — to the same November date. Trump has repeatedly connected the conflict’s trajectory to domestic political timing in recent months.
The war has run for several months. Earlier this year Trump weighed winding down the conflict before pressure and price pressures shifted his public stance more than once.
Oil markets have moved sharply with each turn in the standoff. Prices fell to a three-week low after an earlier decision to call off a planned strike, then climbed again as fighting continued.
Trump did not detail the terms under which he expects the war to end, nor did he specify any negotiations underway. He gave no figures on troop levels, casualties, or the scale of the economic measures he cited.
The US midterm elections are scheduled for November 2026.