Longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove says he expects President Donald Trump to restart U.S. strikes on Iran once the midterm elections are over.
Rove, the architect of George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns and a former Bush White House senior adviser, made the prediction in an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” The Hill reported. Kilmeade asked whether “we go back to kinetic action in Iran.”
“He has sort of signaled it,” Rove said. “And if you look at what’s happening on the ground — two aircraft carriers in the region, a third one on the way, plus enough ground forces, plus enough air assets. If I were the Iranians, I’d be certainly thinking that’s what’s coming my way after the election.”
Trump has warned that the U.S. could strike Tehran after the midterms. According to The Hill, a source familiar with the plans said U.S. Central Command has strikes ready to resume if the White House gives the go-ahead.
The eight-month war has cost $47 billion and has been at a standstill, with no ceasefire or peace deal in place, The Hill reported. More than 50,000 U.S. service members and about 20 warships are in the Middle East. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is heading to the region, possibly to relieve the USS George Washington.
Trump has insisted the war will soon end. At a campaign rally in Montana this month, he claimed Iran’s army is “decimated” and its “leaders are gone.”
“I should have probably left their leaders because I don’t know who the hell we’re negotiating with,” he said.
The conflict has sent gas prices soaring after Iran effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes. AAA put the national average at $4.23 a gallon Thursday, up $1.20 from a year ago.
Rising prices at the pump have become a central issue in the midterms, and polls show voters could punish Republicans for them on Nov. 3.