Two weeks into war with Iran, Trump has been knocked back on his political heels

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — In the two weeks since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on IranPresident Donald Trump increasingly has been knocked on his political heels.

He’s grown more agitated with news coverage and has failed to find a way to explain why he started the war — or how he will end it — that resonates with a public concerned by American deaths in the conflict, surging oil prices and dropping financial markets. Even some of his supporters are questioning his plan and his overall poll numbers are declining.

Meanwhile, Moscow is getting a boost from the war’s early days after Trump eased sanctions on some Russian oil shipments. That, combined with rising oil prices, undercut the yearslong push to crimp President Vladimir Putin’s ability to wage war in Ukraine.

Then there are Democrats, who were left reeling after Trump won the 2024 election. With control of Congress at stake in November’s midtermsthe party has come together to oppose Trump’s Iran policy and point to the economic turmoil as proof that Republicans haven’t kept their promises to bring down everyday costs.

“I think Democrats are well-positioned for this November and the midterms,” said Kelly Dietrich, CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee, which trains party backers to run for office and staff campaigns.

Dietrich said the past two weeks show the Trump administration has failed at long-term planning. “They’re flying by the seat of their pants, and the rest of us are paying the price,” he said.

Trump let some of his frustrations show on Air Force One as he flew back from a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, lashing out at allies and other countries dependent on Middle Eastern oil for not doing more to counter Iran and specifically name-checking British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who he said initially declined to put British aircraft carriers “into harm’s way.”

“Whether we get support or not,” Trump said, “I can say this, and I said to them: We will remember.”

Trump seeks help securing the Strait of Hormuz

The president spent much of his weekend at his golf club in West Palm BeachFlorida. He also attended a closed-door fundraiser for his MAGA Inc. super PAC at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night.

Last weekend, Trump played golf at another of his South Florida properties a day after witnessing the dignified transfer for six U.S. soldiers killed in the Iran war. A political action committee used a photo of the solemn event in a fundraising email, but Trump brushed off a question about whether it was appropriate, saying “there’s nobody that’s better to the military than me.”

Trump and his White House have increasingly complained about media coverage of the conflict. On Saturday, he cheered on his broadcast regulator for threatening to pull broadcast licenses unless they “correct course.”

He angrily told reporters flying with him on Air Force One that coverage of the war had been influenced by Iranian propaganda, which exaggerated the military and political strength of Iran’s leaders and their support among the country’s people.

The president — who kept allies other than Israel in the dark about his war plans for Iran — this weekend began suggesting the U.S. would need to lean on the international community to help oil tankers move through the Strait of Hormuzwhere transportation has been severely disrupted, throwing global energy markets into a tailspin.

Iran has said it plans to keep up attacks on energy infrastructure and use its effective closure of the strait as leverage against the United States and Israel. A fifth of the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway.

Trump said the U.S. was talking to “about seven” countries about providing military support to help reopen the strait. But he wouldn’t say which ones and gave no indication of when such a coalition might be formed.

“It’s something that we don’t need and these countries do need,” the president said, adding “I think it’s a good thing for other countries to come in.”

Singling out allies in Europe, Trump also said, “We’re always there for NATO” and “It’d be interesting to see what country wouldn’t help us with a very small endeavor.”

“Really I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory,” Trump said.

But other countries have reacted to that call only cautiously so far.

South Korea plans to “closely coordinate and carefully review” Trump’s comments, while Japan is closely watching developments. Britain’s defense ministry said it was “discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said keeping the strait “safe and stable serves the common interests of the international community” and that “as a sincere friend and strategic partner of Middle Eastern countries, China will continue to strengthen communication with relevant parties.” Trump — who is slated to visit Beijing later this month — declined to say whether China would join the effort.

Trump had pledged at the beginning of the war that U.S. naval ships would escort tankers through the waterway. But that hasn’t happened yet.

In the meantime, questions about the strait continue to undermine Trump’s recent pronouncement during a Kentucky rally that, “We’ve won.”

“You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won,” he said. “We won the, in the first hour, it was over.”

The war has far-reaching political implications

The U.S. Treasury Department announced this past week a 30-day waiver on Russian sanctionsaiming to free up Russian oil cargoes stranded at sea to help ease supply shortages caused by the Iran war.

That’s despite analysts saying that spiraling oil prices due to Persian Gulf production blockages are benefiting the Russian economy. Moscow relies heavily on oil revenue to finance its war on Ukraine, and sanctions were a growing handicap.

Some of Washington’s key allies have decried the move as empowering Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called easing sanctions “not the right decision” and said it “certainly does not help peace” because it leads to a “strengthening of Russia’s position.”

With midterm races now starting to heat up, Trump was asked about the potential political impact of voters seeing gas prices jump.

“Politically, sure, everybody has concern — I have to do what’s right,” Trump said Sunday night. “I can’t say that ‘Gee, I don’t want to have any impact on oil prices for three or four weeks, or two months, and we’re going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon.’”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said of higher energy prices on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “Americans are feeling it right now” and would “for a few more weeks.”

Iran also has even divided Trump’s “Make America Great Again” basebetween those who support the action and others who say that Trump expressly campaigned on ending wars.

The political turbulence has some Democrats predicting their party could see midterm gains rivaling 2018’s “blue wave” election during Trump’s first term.

“Democrats just have to keep reminding people that he made a promise to bring prices down, and they’re still going up,” Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said of Trump. “And now they’re going to go up even more because prices in gasoline can increase prices of everything else, including at the grocery store.”