U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., May 20, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump appears to be relying on a strategy that is producing "diminishing returns" in the Iran war, according to a new editorial.
The Wall Street Journal's editorial board argued on Wednesday that Trump's continued threats are not being taken seriously by the Iranian regime. They cited his threat to resume a bombing campaign in the country this week if Iran didn't come back to the negotiating table with a serious proposal to end the conflict.
"Such threats have been repeated so often that they now face diminishing returns," the editorial reads in part. "Iran doesn’t seem to believe them, and in any case, the regime seems prepared to ride out further conflict and fight back by targeting the Gulf allies and commercial shipping."
The war in Iran has gone on for nearly three months and has been a disaster for the global economy. Iran wrested control of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global waterway that accounts for 20% of global energy trade, in retaliation for the war. That move has sent global energy prices skyrocketing, with the average price of gasoline in the U.S. reaching its highest point in more than four years.
That leaves Trump with few options, and none of them are good, according to the WSJ editors. For instance, they said Trump could resume military strikes, even though the end goal is yet to be defined. Trump could also continue the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and put together a military escort for ships leaving the waterway. The editors also suggested Trump could destroy Iran's energy infrastructure.
"All of this carries risks, both military and economic," they wrote. "But by now the President has no options that don’t include risks."
They warned that the longer the war goes on, the greater the political risk it poses for Trump and the GOP heading into the midterms.
"As Mr. Trump famously said in criticizing his predecessors, the U.S. shouldn’t start a war if it isn’t prepared to do what it takes to win," the WSJ editors wrote.