In the weeks before the midterm elections, President Donald Trump promised that he would not attack Iran again until after the vote.
This led many to assume that a major attack would come as soon as the election was over, or that Trump might go the other way and reach a peace agreement.
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the Air Force F-22 Demonstration Team, Air Combat Command, performs aerial maneuvers during the 2025 Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay Air Show, Aug. 9, 2025. The Kaneohe Bay Air Show provides an opportunity to showcase the aircraft, equipment and capabilities of the armed forces in the Indo-Pacific region to the local community. The air show, which contained aerial performances, static displays, demonstrations and vendors, was designed to celebrate MCBH’s longstanding relationship with the local community. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Blake Gonter)
U.S. Air Force Maj. Josh Gunderson, F-22 Demo Team commander, performs the Raptor slide during the Geneseo Airshow July 10, 2021, Geneseo, N.Y. During the maneuver the aircraft actually slides down and backwards under control before Gunderson adjusts the aircrafts position and powers out of the maneuver. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Don Hudson)
However, nearly a week after the elections, neither has happened, with the Iran situation in the same holding pattern it was in for the several weeks before the election.
USA Today, in an analysis published on Monday, stated that Trump, at least so far, has opted for the status quo when it comes to Iran.
And he said just that this week.
The Current State of Things
“Iran, militarily, is effectively over. We’re just keeping it the status quo,” Trump told reporters on Monday, continuing his longstanding insistence that the Iran military adventure has been a success.
A few major developments have happened in the last week: The Republicans suffered a major wipeout in the midterm elections, with voter discontent about the Iran war largely seen as the reason why.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had been expected to possibly join a renewed military campaign against Iran, may be losing power after his election opponent was given the initial mandate to form a government.
And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faces a potential impeachment vote on Tuesday, one that he may very well lose.
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vice President JD Vance bluntly stated in a post-election X post. “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so.” It’s hard to imagine, at this point, that the Administration could go from that to launching a major new phase of the war.
So it doesn’t appear a new attack on Iran is imminent, although the diplomatic route hasn’t borne much fruit, either.
The Qatar Meeting
On Monday, the president met in Washington with Sheik Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, who has been leading mediation efforts between the U.S. and Iran in recent months.
Trump, in a Truth Social post Monday, described the meeting as “an excellent conversation.” He also said that he is happy with the status quo and insisted that other countries feel the same way.
“Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others would prefer the status quo, in other words, a continuation of the Greatest Naval Blockade in History, and the new Operation Iron Gate — Therefore, Land and Sea,” Trump said in the Truth Social post.
All agree, he added, that Iran cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.
Trump added that the U.S. is “locked and loaded” for another attack if anything changes, but that “at this point, however, that seems to be quite unlikely.”
After the Monday meeting, per USA Today, the secretary of state said that talks “had not been very productive,” and that Iran’s demands were “outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic.”
An F-35A Lightning II banks away from an F-22 Raptor Feb. 6, 2020, near the Hawaiian Islands. F-35 Airmen from Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., temporarily relocated to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to join other flying squadrons in exercise Pacific Raptor. Every training mission of the exercise was carried out by total-force teams from the Air Force’s Active, Reserve and Air National Guard components. (courtesy photo)
And in his interview on 60 Minutes that aired on Sunday night, Trump was asked if he would attack Iran again, and he gave a similar answer.
“Well, I’m not looking to. I don’t think there’s any reason to. I don’t think there’s any reason to,” Trump told interviewer Ross Douthat. When asked about Iran’s remaining nuclear material, the president replied, “They have nothing. It’s buried under thousands of tons of rock.”
Could the U.S. Go Back to War?
The midterm flop and Vance’s comments make it very politically untenable for the U.S. to launch a new military initiative in Iran.
That’s according to Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, the chief executive of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation think tank, in comments to USA Today.
“A lot of the momentum behind further military conflict, at least of a significant scale, has been lost,” Batmanghelidj told the newspaper. He added it would “look really extraordinary,” and probably cause a major outcry, if administration officials, after admitting the war was why they lost the election, then escalated that same war.
However, if the decision is to maintain the status quo, that means continued high energy prices, which are another reason for the present political discontent.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
