{"id":2905,"date":"2026-03-28T12:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T12:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=2905"},"modified":"2026-03-28T12:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T12:54:14","slug":"4-weeks-in-trumps-conflicting-signals-on-iran-war-frustrate-gop-lawmakers-and-political-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=2905","title":{"rendered":"4 weeks in, Trump\u2019s conflicting signals on Iran war frustrate GOP lawmakers and political allies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">President Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0conflicting signals over the future of the war in Iran\u00a0have spurred deepening frustration among GOP lawmakers and allies who fear the administration still\u00a0lacks a clear endgame\u00a0after four weeks of fighting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump over the last several days has simultaneously\u00a0expressed a desire for peace\u00a0and a willingness to\u00a0plunge the US into a new and more dangerous phase of the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He has insisted that Iran is eager to negotiate a truce while also ordering\u00a0thousands more troops to the region\u00a0over the coming days and weeks.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And as Trump nears his self-imposed deadline for a war he insists is ahead of schedule and effectively won, he has repeatedly declined to specify what would constitute a victory \u2014 leaving all but his closest advisers largely in the dark.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI just read a story today that I\u2019m desperate to make a deal. I\u2019m not,\u201d Trump said Thursday, just days after hailing progress toward negotiating a \u201ccomplete and total\u201d resolution of the war. \u201cI\u2019m the opposite of desperate. I don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The minute-by-minute vacillations and conflicting signals coming out of the White House have unnerved lawmakers, political allies and even some Trump aides and advisers, who acknowledge they have little idea what will happen next and harbor increasing doubts about the administration\u2019s management of a conflict laden with political and economic peril.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Complications with ending the war quickly<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump in recent days has sought to force Iran into a quick deal, raising the specter of strikes on critical infrastructure and a potential ground invasion to convince the regime to give in. But should those threats fail, his allies worry it could set the stage for an even more unpredictable and potentially destabilizing endgame.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Despite Trump\u2019s desire to conclude the war in a matter of days, officials have struggled in recent classified briefings to detail how they plan to achieve key objectives if Iran doesn\u2019t cooperate \u2014 such as\u00a0reopening the Strait of Hormuz\u00a0or permanently ending Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions, according to lawmakers in the room.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The White House has come under competing pressures, as\u00a0Arab allies urge Trump not to leave behind an even more dangerous Iranian regime, while some in the GOP press him to declare victory and get out before voters sour further on his presidency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Across global financial markets, the\u00a0warning signs are intensifying, too. Following a brief retreat earlier this week spurred by optimism that a diplomatic solution was in reach, oil prices have continued to surge to fresh highs, ignoring Trump\u2019s assurances that the pain from his \u201clittle stopover\u201d in Iran is close to finished.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cEveryone is worried about a quagmire in the Middle East,\u201d said one close Trump ally, who was granted anonymity to describe the darkening mood among many in the president\u2019s orbit. \u201cThat\u2019s been the history of the Middle East as long as I\u2019ve been alive, so I\u2019m not sure why they didn\u2019t see the potential for what this could become.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a statement, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump\u2019s \u201cfirst instinct is always diplomacy,\u201d which was why he initially sought to negotiate with the Iranian regime before launching his military campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cNow that the regime\u2019s ballistic missile capacity and navy is getting annihilated by the United States, they are begging to make a deal,\u201d she said. \u201cThe President is willing to listen, but if they fail to accept the reality of the current moment, they will be hit harder than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/0KXsuTlKHFfe7SiRzqFC5w--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/88db8a8d9bd05dcd865b0208ba2dc351\" alt=\"A man looks at a residential building damaged by a strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, on Friday. - Majid Asgaripour\/WANA\/Reuters\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"15\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div>A man looks at a residential building damaged by a strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, on Friday. &#8211; Majid Asgaripour\/WANA\/Reuters<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Unclear path forward<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Still, even among Trump\u2019s top advisers, their preparations for the next stage of the war reflect uncertainty over which path the president will choose.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Officials have sought to provide Trump maximum optionality, offering him a wide array of choices for conducting his campaign. They have taken care not to make any firm commitments that he might later contradict, even if it\u2019s meant confusing allies or heightening market anxieties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump officials over the last week have both downplayed the prospect of putting troops on the ground and insisted that Trump is willing use all options at his disposal to crush the regime. They have characterized his war aims as nearly complete, while refusing to specify how much longer fully achieving them will take.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-4\">\n<div id=\"recirc-87a388dc-8e87-308d-92b0-ceec73353ac8\" class=\"mb-4\">\n<div class=\"grid gap-4 lg:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-rows-[auto_auto_1fr]\">\n<div class=\"relative w-full\">\n<div id=\"_r_70_\" class=\"absolute inset-0 rounded-[4px] focus-within:ring-2 focus-within:ring-blue-700 trc_related_container tbl-trecs-container trc_spotlight_widget trc_elastic trc_elastic_stream-i-v3\" data-placement-name=\"taboola-article-center\">\n<div class=\"trc_rbox_container\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"trc_wrapper_3772496033\" class=\"trc_rbox stream-i-v3 trc-content-sponsored\">\n<div class=\"trc_clearer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIt\u2019ll be over when the president decides it\u2019ll be over,\u201d Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at an energy industry conference earlier this week, even as he claimed that the spike in oil and gas prices triggered by the war amounted to only a \u201ctemporary increase.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump has privately indicated in recent days that he\u2019s eager to wrap up the war soon and move on to other priorities, people familiar with the matter said \u2014 especially as concerns grow about the economic consequences and November\u2019s midterm elections grow nearer. One recent Reuters\/Ipsos poll put\u00a0Trump\u2019s approval rating on the economy at 29%, a lower number than former President Joe Biden ever saw during his term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The White House this week rescheduled a trip to China for mid-May, which some interpreted as a soft deadline for the war\u2019s end. Trump in the meantime has pressed for diplomatic talks, deputizing Vice President JD Vance alongside envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to spearhead the negotiations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Yet those discussions could be slow going, and the two sides appear far apart \u2014 at least publicly. It remains unclear who even will speak for the Iranians in those negotiations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday, as the US awaited a response to its opening 15-point peace proposal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump and his team have offered little clarity on how they plan to orchestrate a clean exit from the Middle East, especially in the next couple weeks \u2014 a prospect that has exposed fresh cracks within the Republican Party.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/qi1W_QuCFddzfZTGkEzi6A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/895d548cd53383df1b90d275e5bf2d9e\" alt=\"President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn after arriving on Marine One at the White House, on March 23, in Washington. - Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/AP\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"17\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div>President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn after arriving on Marine One at the White House, on March 23, in Washington. &#8211; Julia Demaree Nikhinson\/AP<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Increasing political pressure<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Some senior Republican lawmakers have grown so desperate for information that they publicly criticized the Pentagon over a pair of briefings they described as lackluster. During those classified sessions, Defense Department officials were evasive when confronted with questions from members on both sides of the aisle about why Trump was massing troops and how exactly he planned to bring an end to the war, lawmakers said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIt\u2019s fair to say that not every question that every member asked could be answered,\u201d said GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Others, including some of the GOP\u2019s biggest defense hawks, have been alarmed by the administration\u2019s efforts to mitigate the ripple effects of the war, such as lifting sanctions on Russian oil and considering diverting US military resources from Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s a good idea,\u201d Texas Rep. Michael McCaul said of easing pressure on Russia. \u201cThey\u2019re providing active intelligence on our military and making Shahed drones with the Iranians.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Warnings over ground troops<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While most Republican lawmakers have remained aligned with Trump on the war so far, at least publicly, many have urged him to finish the fight as quickly as possible \u2014 and do whatever he can to\u00a0avoid putting boots on the ground.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Several lawmakers have already warned that deploying troops would drive a wedge through the party, prompting a push for the first formal vote to authorize military force since 2002 and further imperiling any effort to approve hundreds of billions of dollars in additional funding for the war.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI support our president, I support our troops. But I hope we\u2019ve learned from Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan,\u201d said GOP Rep. Jeff Van Drew, adding \u201cI pray to God\u201d the US isn\u2019t drawn into a protracted war. \u201cWe can\u2019t get involved in every country in the world. We just can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he\u2019s frustrated that he\u2019s getting information about troops and other matters \u201cthrough press reports\u201d instead of classified briefings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIf there are ground troops that are en route or that are planning on being stationed there \u2014 clearly we\u2019ve had troops in the region for decades \u2014 but if this is something different than that, then we absolutely need to be briefed on it and we need to concur,\u201d Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/lyPHr3jq5O4N0hIFn82zQw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/5d2bab3af0286f57eae99d13ea0b9c2b\" alt=\"A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on March 8. - Vahid Salemi\/AP\/File\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"19\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div>A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on March 8. &#8211; Vahid Salemi\/AP\/File<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">The ever-present oil problem<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Those rising political pressures, however, are only likely to complicate Trump\u2019s options for easing the more urgent energy crisis spurred by the war. Iran has\u00a0vowed to maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz, a seizure that\u2019s effectively halted the flow of oil and driven up prices across the world.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At the energy conference in Houston earlier this week, oil executives warned the supply crunch would only get worse the longer the war drags on, intensifying competition for available barrels and rippling across other parts of the economy. In a sign that contagion is already beginning, US stocks have steadily declined over the past month, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing more than 7% of its value.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But simply declaring an end to the war will do little to change those dynamics if Iran maintains power over the strait, analysts and investors warned. Among the military options that Pentagon officials have prepared for Trump is a proposal to attempt to seize control by invading Iran\u2019s Kharg Island or other smaller islands that are critical to the strait. Still, those could open the US up to heavy casualties with little guarantee that it would succeed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThere is a conundrum here in this war in that you have to figure out how to get the strait open if you\u2019re going to settle it,\u201d said Sarah Bianchi, chief strategist of international affairs and public policy for investment bank Evercore ISI and a former senior Biden administration official. \u201cThere\u2019s not really an obviously clear path to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Among some Trump advisers and allies, restoring the Strait of Hormuz to its pre-war status quo is now seen as the objective that could allow the president to declare victory and end the conflict \u2014 even as they acknowledge it\u2019s a far cry from the lofty goals of regime change and a US-friendly era in Iran that Trump had hoped for one month ago.<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Yet even that could prove too ambitious; during a meeting with US allies in Europe, Rubio said he told them that once the war is over, they would likely need to embark on a separate effort to secure the strait.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As for the US\u2019 current mission in Iran, Trump later that day provided a familiar refrain: \u201cThey are being decimated. We are talking now. They want to make a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He didn\u2019t offer any more specifics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Lauren Fox and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at\u00a0CNN.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0conflicting signals over the future of the war in Iran\u00a0have spurred deepening frustration among GOP lawmakers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2907,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions\/2907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}