U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver a speech at a back-to-school event at the White House Rose Garden in Washington... Monday, August 24, 2026 (AP)
Afrasianet - At an impromptu press conference last week, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke at length about his helipad, ballroom and granite floors. The one thing he rarely mentioned was the war on Iran.
Six months after launching what he expected to be a lightning strike, Trump seems bored or even in denial of the conflict that is casting a shadow over his second term.
Asked about Iran, after taking reporters on a tour of the White House's South Lawn to review its latest updates, Trump replied: "The situation is very good right now."
After the 36-minute tour, Trump used the word "granite" 13 times, and the word "Iran" only three times.
But the war, which has killed at least 18 U.S. soldiers and wounded more than 750, according to Pentagon figures, has become a heavy burden on Trump. Thousands more have died in Iran and Lebanon.
Electoral repercussions
American voters are angry about the war's impact on the cost of living, as the crucial midterm elections approach.
Even Trump's supporters wonder why the man, who has vowed not to wage new foreign wars in America, is stuck in another quagmire without a clear plan to get out of it.
Commenting on this case, William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, asks, "Is there a magic solution? "I don't think the solution doesn't exist," he replies.
Trump's popularity has plummeted since he returned to office in 2025, and this decline accelerated after the war launched by the United States and Israel on Iran on February 28.
A Reuters and Ipsos poll conducted between Aug. 14 and 17 showed Trump's approval rating plummeting to 33 percent, the lowest of his current term. Other major polls also show a significant decline in his popularity.
Very boring
For Trump, the Iran war was supposed to be a quick victory, similar to the U.S. arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last January.
In a phone interview with AFP after the ceasefire was announced in April, Trump declared a "complete and complete victory."
But as the truce collapsed and Iran refused to comply, Trump veered from military pressure to economic pressure, just as his justification for starting the war changed from regime change to ensuring that Iran did not acquire a nuclear weapon.
As Iran continued to control the Strait of Hormuz — a strait of pressure that did not do so until after Trump began the war — the 80-year-old was first frustrated and then disinterested.
"Frankly, I think it's starting to get very boring," Trump said of the stalled talks with Iran since June.
Garrett Martin, a foreign policy expert at the American University, said Trump "is known for his short focus time, he was convinced he could repeat what happened with Venezuela, a quick show of force. I think he is now in a situation where there is no easy way out."
Stray war
While Trump prefers to talk about the $400 million ballroom he is seeking to build, and put his name on public buildings in Washington, voters are still thinking about Iran.
Joe Blinsler, a former U.S. Marine who served 20 years, said, "I think it's a completely unnecessary war, it's been a mindless war, and I think it's going very badly."
"Its impact on the American consumer has increased tremendously," he said, pointing to growing discontent in rural Virginia, where he lives.
Gasoline prices have risen to more than $4 a gallon since the start of the war, compared to the national average of $3.14 a year ago, which has had a significant impact on consumer prices.
The account is coming
Trump's day of reckoning could come in November's midterm congressional elections. Analysts say public discontent over the war could cost Republicans control of the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate, derailing Trump's legislative plans and putting him at risk of being impeached for a third time.
The 80-year-old's quest to leave a legacy after his second term ends in 2029 makes that unlikely. "I think he cares about his place in history," Galston said.
But he added: "He probably thinks that the statues, buildings and other landmarks bearing his name will dispense with the outstanding performance that immortalizes his name as president."
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