Trump says Iran war is ending, then claims he must return to 'fighting a war'

President Donald Trump contradicted himself twice within the same hour at a farmers' roundtable in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, on Friday about America's war with Iran, dismissing it as a military conflict. He then wrapped up the same event by saying he had to get back to "fighting a war in Iran." The contradictions didn't stop there. Trump claimed the conflict was largely over, though he couldn't quite say how. "It's either finished with a piece of paper," he told the crowd, "or in a more difficult way—although you could say a much easier way."

Trump also appeared to acknowledge, perhaps for the first time, that Americans are bearing the cost of his actions in Iran. "I know it's difficult," he told farmers, promising that fertilizer, energy, oil, and gas prices would return to pre-war levels within 90 days. The admission marked a notable shift from his earlier posture; the President had previously brushed off concerns about the war's economic toll with a blunt: "I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody."

The off-the-cuff comments appeared to suggest that Trump can't settle on whether America is at war, and that contradiction isn't just rhetorical. It indicated that the gap between Trump's words and their reality is widening with each passing week as people face a cost-of-living crisis engendered by the "military conflict." The softening stance also indicates that Trump may finally be feeling the weight of public opinion—Americans have consistently disapproved of his handling of the war across multiple polls.

This is perhaps why he locked horns with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his relentless bombing campaign in Lebanon threatened to derail peace talks with Iran. He reportedly yelled at Netanyahu in an expletive-laden call, slamming Israel's escalation. Netanyahu backed off momentarily but seems to have reneged on the ceasefire, hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs without warning on Sunday, killing two and injuring 11, Associated Press reported.

It must be noted that Trump does not have many options at his disposal after the House of Representatives approved a war powers resolution that would direct him to halt the military action against Iran. It may not stop the president should he choose to restart his military campaign, but it shows he is on thin ice and needs a deal. However, there is no clarity on its status following a brief suspension last week.

All of this reinforces what historian and journalist Anne Applebaum has previously argued: Trump has no real strategy on Iran. She warned that Trump risks dragging the world into recession without appearing to register the consequences, and that the president never anticipated the conflict stretching this long. "I imagine he was being told this was going to be easy," she claimed. "If there were people in the room telling him it wasn't, he ignored them."