President Donald Trump dismissed the idea that the upcoming midterm election could influence how he goes about fighting Iran, following over a week of escalating strikes and three U.S. soldiers being killed over the weekend.
The president, taking questions in the Oval Office on Tuesday alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, posited that Iran is “probably” trying to impact the results of the elections, before saying that “they won’t have any impact on me.”
“No, the election — I can’t think about that having to do with this,” Trump continued. “I think people are very impressed.”
Republicans have repeatedly expressed consternation over the electoral implications a return to all-out war could bring, with oil prices on the rise once more. Shipping traffic has again ground to a virtual halt in the Strait of Hormuz — a vital channel for the world’s oil — which has been one of the core points of contention between Washington and Tehran.
