Politics

Trump keeps extending the Iran war. Republicans are losing patience.

Published

3 weeks ago

June 12, 2026

Republicans keep lengthening President Donald Trump’s leash on Iran.

First, they hoped he would stick to his initial four- to six-week timeline for the war. Then, they gave him 60 days; then, until summer.

Now, battleground GOP party chairs, campaign officials and strategists are coalescing around Labor Day as their hard deadline, according to interviews with more than a dozen people.

It’s different this time, they say: September is the unofficial kickoff of general election season, when more voters tune in and the stakes get higher. Amid rising U.S. casualties, gas prices and fertilizer costs, these Republicans indicated the political risk of the ongoing war is heightening as the midterms draw near.

“By the first of September … it needs to be resolved,” said Dan Naylor, who runs the Lackawanna County GOP in a critical House battleground district in Pennsylvania. “You get more focused on the election at that point in time, and we need to be able to point to falling prices.”

Still, Naylor said he and many other Republicans believe Trump is doing what “needed to be done” in Iran and acknowledged the president is unlikely to “draw a line in the sand” for an end date given the complexity of the situation.

“I believe that voters need some time to see prices coming down before Election Day,” said a Nevada GOP strategist working on battleground House races, who – like others in this story — were granted anonymity to speak candidly about the midterm landscape. “If we can get this normalized with some time, we’ll be okay. But if we’re looking at Labor Day coming up on us, and we still have $5 a gallon gas, we’ll be in big trouble.”

A senior White House official said Friday that a preliminary deal with Iran to end the war is close but not final, putting the chances of success at 80 percent to 85 percent, as lingering skepticism hangs over the negotiations. A deal would bring a sigh of relief to war-weary Republicans — and they expressed faith that it would come to fruition. But this is not the first time an agreement seemed imminent, only for the war to continue.

The cracks within the GOP have started to spill into public view, with some candidates emphasizing the need for the war to wrap up soon, even if they agreed with its initial goals.

Rep. Ashley Hinson, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa, acknowledged at a campaign event at the end of last month that the war would become a “political liability” if it drags on beyond “the next couple of weeks.” Sen. Jon Husted, who is running for a full term in battleground Ohio, said earlier this month he’s not sure how the war is going to come to an end but “it needs to,” referring to the stalled and uncertain negotiations with Iran. And Sen. Pete Ricketts, who is running for reelection in Nebraska, said on local radio this week that he wants to see “a diplomatic solution” to the war “as quickly as possible.”

In May and June, eight Republican lawmakers sided with Democrats to vote against Trump’s war powers — extraordinary breaks from the president that included some of the most at-risk Republicans on the House and Senate battlemaps, like Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Michigan Rep. Tom Barrett. (Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who also supported the measure, lost their reelections to Trump-backed challengers earlier this year.)

Most of those Republican members, including Reps. Warren Davidson, Barrett and Fitzpatrick, defended their defections as standing up for Congress’ authority to decide the length and scope of military action taken. Massie has long been opposed to American military intervention.

“It would be nice to see some more progress on the negotiations,” said a national Republican operative working on Senate races. “The goals are worthy, but obviously, if this is continuing to go on into late summer, into the fall, it’s going to continue to present issues.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republican hand-wringing about the war’s impact on the midterms comes at a moment when Trump has shown little interest in off-ramps in the Middle East. The president has been vocally frustrated with Iran’s unwillingness to sign on to his administration’s demands. On Thursday morning, he vowed to strike the country “VERY HARD TONIGHT,” before reversing course later that afternoon.

He also said his goal was to seize Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil hub, in an operation that could imperil American troops, but that he doesn’t believe “America has the stomach for it.”

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who holds significant influence over the young, anti-interventionist wing of the GOP, said on his show Thursday that the president “is a spotty commander-in-chief and certainly no diplomat and obviously not a dealmaker.”

“What we’re beginning to understand, unfortunately, for the rest of us, are not just the limits of Trump, but the limits of American power,” said Carlson, who has emerged as one of the most prominent anti-war voices.

Even if the war ends soon, it could take months for gas prices to return to pre-war levels, Republicans and economic analysts have warned, increasing the urgency on Trump to exit before the last primaries wrap up.

“Veterans support Trump and what he’s doing overall, but the longer it drags out, the economic impact is a reality that we’re seeing on the ground,” said Mark Lucas, a Trump ally and founder of Veterans Action. “And that’s why we’re very supportive of President Trump getting to a peaceful resolution.”

“What good does it do us if September 15 rolls around and prices come down, but people are about to start voting?” the Nevada-based GOP strategist said.

Polling shows that support for the Iran war is weak among Americans — and many say it is making their financial situation worse, a warning sign for Republicans staring down a November election that will likely hinge on voters’ cost-of-living concerns. A recent POLITICO Poll found a majority of Americans, including a sizable share of Trump’s own voters in 2024, say he has not done enough to protect them from the economic fallout from the war.

A majority of Republican voters still approve of the conflict, underscoring their ongoing trust in the president,but that support could slip the longer it continues.

“People have short-term memories, but if challenges lag on and it starts becoming the thing heading into the fall, there’s a liability there,” said Tyler Campbell, an Iowa-based Republican strategist unaffiliated with the major races. “Urgency is kind of important right now, so hopefully it will come to a resolution.”

Since the start of the war, Republicans have offered conflicting deadlines about how long it should last. In March, Trump said the war would be a “short-term excursion”; later, he criticized Americans’ lack of patience and boasted that the Iran war was significantly shorter than World War II or the Iraq war.

Republican lawmakers and candidates, dealing with an increasingly frustrated base, have been telling voters for months that the conflict would resolve sooner rather than later, only to be proven wrong.

In March, Rep. Juan Ciscomani, running for reelection in his battleground Arizona district, told a local reporter that “everybody wants it to end as soon as possible, and that’s my objective as well.” In April, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, up for reelection in Florida, told a podcaster that “everything should be wrapped up shortly.” And in May, Rep. Brad Finstad of Minnesota told local radio he hopes the war “is addressed and ended as soon as possible.”

“We cannot be fighting everybody else’s wars,” said Susan Ruch, the Carson City, Nevada GOP chair. “I do not want it to be a forever war, and I think the Iranians, if they do not want this form of government, at some point they have to figure out how they’re going to do it.”

Politics

Inside the White House push to get Folarin Balogun back on the field

Published

4 hours ago

July 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The campaign to keep Folarin Balogun on the field for the United States’ World Cup run began just minutes after the team’s leading goal-scorer received a red card that would sideline him for the team’s next match.

Following Wednesday’s victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina, White House FIFA World Cup Task Force executive director Andrew Giuliani alerted President Donald Trump to Balogun’s punishment for a rash tackle — removal from the Bosnia match and a routine one-match suspension that would keep him out of a must-win encounter against Belgium.Trump and Giuliani had been speaking regularly about the World Cup for months. During the planning stages for the tournament, the president received frequent briefings on logistics, security and the U.S. team’s prospects. Once the competition began in mid-June, those conversations accelerated to multiple times each week.

By Wednesday night, the White House had committed itself to taking action over Balogun’s red card, which some soccer analysts believed to be a harsh punishment for the infraction. Giuliani, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and senior U.S. Soccer Federation officials — all of whom had watched the Bosnia match in person at Levi’s Stadium near San Francisco — began activating plans to challenge the referee’s on-field decision to issue a red card. Successful appeals of World Cup red cards are exceedingly rare.

That kicked off four days of coordinated lobbying, legal maneuvering and diplomacy that stretched from the Oval Office to FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich — and underscored how invested Trump’s inner circle had become in the second World Cup hosted on U.S. soil and the fortune of the U.S. men’s national team competing in it. Blue Light News spoke to a half-dozen U.S. government and soccer officials who were either directly involved in or briefed on the week’s events.

On Sunday, a day before the U.S. was due to face Belgium with Balogun on the bench, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee announced that it was suspending Balogun’s one-match suspension for a year. Trump thanked FIFA for “doing what was right and reversing a great injustice.” The Royal Belgian Football Association and European confederation UEFA, of which Belgium is a member, are considering taking action against the FIFA ruling, according to a high-ranking UEFA official granted anonymity to discuss ongoing deliberations.

On Thursday, Trump placed a call to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The two men had built a friendship over nearly eight years, with Infantino becoming a frequent visitor to the Oval Office during Trump’s second term. They remained in contact even when events put U.S. government policy in conflict with FIFA’s objectives, according to people familiar with their relationship. That included when the Trump administration launched military strikes against Iran in February, jeopardizing the country’s ability to compete in the World Cup — a personal history that mattered when Trump dialed Infantino about the Balogun matter.

Trump asked about FIFA’s rules around the red card decision and the grounds for a suspension. Infantino listened carefully but made no promises about the outcome. FIFA declined to confirm any specific discussions but reiterated to Blue Light News that the decision to suspend the one-match ban was made by an independent disciplinary committee.

As U.S. Soccer’s legal team formally prepared and submitted its appeal to FIFA, Giuliani and Lutnick also offered to make White House attorneys available to assist with legal analysis if needed, according to people involved in the discussions.

At the same time, Giuliani and Scott Goodwin — a hedge-fund manager who had helped to personally pay the salary of U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino — zeroed in on the officiating history of referee Raphael Claus, who made the red card call on Wednesday. Articles examining previous controversies involving the Brazilian referee circulated among senior government officials as they evaluated every possible argument that could bolster the appeal, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The matter quickly rose through FIFA’s legal and disciplinary channels. Emilio García, who oversees the legal affairs of soccer’s global governing body, became a central figure in advising Infantino on the available procedural options, according to people familiar with the process. García and other FIFA officials worked to determine whether the circumstances around Balogun’s tackle met the narrow standards that would allow the disciplinary decision to be revisited.By Sunday, the answer had arrived. FIFA announced that Balogun’s one-match suspension would be suspended, clearing him to play in the United States’ next match. Many, including European soccer officials, argued that the White House’s involvement violated FIFA’s policies about insulating sporting decisions from political influence.

“In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options,” the Belgian association said in a statement released after the ruling.

FIFA insists that the decision was an independent one made by its 18-person disciplinary committee, but it would not say whether the decision was decided through a vote. Unlike other decisions made by the committee, FIFA has not published a report on the decision.

Soon afterward, Trump and Infantino spoke again. They are expected to jointly award the World Cup trophy to the tournament’s winning team after the final match, on July 19.

Tim Röhn contributed to this article.

Politics

Top Iranian officials attend funeral of late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran

Published

5 hours ago

July 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Christmas. 5, 2026, 6:29 AM EDT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s top officials and brothers of the country’s new supreme leader emerged into public view Sunday to attend the funeral prayers for the late Ayatollah Ali Khameneisignaling a new confidence in their safety as calls grew for the killing of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Their presence before hundreds of thousands of people in the capital Tehran would have been unthinkable during the Iran war, which saw airstrikes in its opening moments on Feb. 28 kill the 86-year-old Khamenei, his family members and other officials.

Israel also targeted others who appeared publicly during the war, in at least one case likely using their public appearanceto fix their position for a strike.

But still unseen was Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. Israel has threatened to kill him as well as he leads a theocracy now negotiating with the United States over a permanent end to the war and over Iran strangling traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies.

Ziba Naderi, a 42-year-old nurse attending the funeral Sunday, said Iran needed to follow whatever Mojtaba Khamenei commands in regards to the nation.

“I heard the call for revenge, but our leader should say what we need to do,” she said. “And we must listen to him.”

Funeral includes prayers and calls for revenge

Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, led the prayers at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla for Khamenei and his late family members.

On hand were Khamenei’s sons Masoud, Meysam and Mostafa, who haven’t been seen since the war. Revolutionary Guard head Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who only had been photographed for the first time since the war on Thursdaycould be seen in the crowd by Associated Press journalists, flanked by plainclothes security forces as he wore a black baseball cap.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Esmail Qani, who leads the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, also attended.

Their appearances came as posters and graffiti at the Grand Mosalla called for the killing of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mohammad Rasouli, a poet who emceed the event prior to the prayers, drew calls of “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Speaking to the crowd over loudspeakers at the funeral, Rasouli asked, referring to Trump, “Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive?”

The question drew cheers from the crowd, and again when Rasouli said “the world is no longer a good place for” Trump. It marked the first, direct threat to Trump’s life by an official during the funeral.

Trump threats grow at funeral

The American president was giving a speech at the same time across the world in Washington, D.C., for the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.

“We’ve had tremendous success,” Trump said about the U.S. military. “You look at Venezuela, you look at Iran. We wiped it out, wiped out their military.”

A far-larger crowd for the funeral than the day before attended Sunday. Mourners dressed in black walked to the site, carrying banners and flags honoring Khamenei and also calling for Trump’s killing.

“I came here to shout and seek revenge,” said Gholamreza Sabooni, 29-year-old man who works in a grocery. “They killed our imam, we should kill their leader, Trump.”

U.S. federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump and other administration officials for years. That stems from Trump ordering the 2020 killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimaniwho had led the Quds Force. Iran repeatedly has denied plotting to kill Trump, though hard-line propaganda footage long has suggested Trump was in Tehran’s crosshairs.

Trump meanwhile promised to destroy Iran’s very civilizationduring the war among a variety of other threats.

Funeral postpones talks with US

Khamenei’s body will be transported to cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq, with authorities planning to drive his casket and others through the streets of Tehran on Monday. Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which will end Thursday as he is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei’s place of birth.

Authorities offered no attendance count for the event Saturday and Sunday. Other cities across Iran also held mourning ceremonies.

For now, talks over reaching a permanent end to the war are on hold until the end of the funeral. Having a major turnout could prove important as Iran tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuzin negotiations as concern lingers that Israel could attack again.

“Our foreign policy should not be shaped in a way that allows our martyred leader’s blood to be dishonored and other countries can afford to do such things, without any serious response from our government and diplomatic system,” mourner Mohammad Reza Sharifi said.

Politics

The other US-Belgian spat

Published

8 hours ago

July 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

BRUSSELS — Even before they face off tomorrow night in Seattle, Belgium and the the United States are already at loggerheads over America’s birthday celebrations.

U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White insisted that Brussels’ historic Parc du Cinquantenaire was left spotless after his lavish festivities marking 250 years of American independence, as Belgian authorities probe whether fireworks damaged one of the capital’s historic buildings.

“We are in immediate contact with the Belgian company that was hired to coordinate all event logistics, including the fireworks company,” White wrote on X on Friday. He said the contractor would “remediate where it is required” and insisted that “Cinquantenaire has never looked any cleaner than it was the day after we cleaned up after our event,” posting photographs of the park looking immaculate.

More than 8,800 invited guests attended the June 28 celebration — one of the biggest diplomatic receptions ever staged in Brussels — organized by White, featuring a large fireworks display beneath the triumphal arch and a gala held in Cinquantenaire’s Royal Museum of Art and History building.

The ambassador’s response came after Flemish newspapers De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad reported that Belgium’s Buildings Agency had opened an investigation into possible damage to the museum.

The Building Authority confirmed that “fireworks debris was found on the roof, and certain limited areas of the roof appear blackened” in a statement to Blue Light News, adding that “analyses are still ongoing” before being able to comment on the scope of any repair work.

Belgian Buildings Minister Vanessa Matz has urged caution, saying investigators must first determine whether any damage was caused by the fireworks display or by the severe thunderstorm that swept across Brussels the previous night.The celebration reportedly cost around €5 million, with White raising the money from roughly 220 Belgian and American companies.