US President Donald Trump following a midterm election eve speech by the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., on November 2.
WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov 2 – President Donald Trump repeated his assertion that the United States is winning the war with Iran and said that Tehran wants a deal, adding: “It could happen.”
“We’re winning with Iran – easily winning,” Trump said in a speech in Washington on the eve of the November 3 elections that will determine which party controls the Senate and House of Representatives for the second half of his four-year term.
Later in the appearance at the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Trump said that “we won” the war and that it is no longer a war: “We’ve done very little fighting” lately.
He said that much of Tehran’s military capability has been destroyed in the war that began with US and Israeli strikes in late February, and that Iran’s economy is in ruins.
“They want to make a deal, and it could happen,” Trump said, without going into detail.
Later, Vice President JD Vance told reporters that he and Trump “both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement…. We’ve certainly made some progress. We’ll see if we can make some more.”
A day earlier, Trump had said that the US would have to “hammer” Iran again at some point, but he made no mention of a new offensive in his address on November 2. As he concluded his remarks, a reporter shouted a question about whether he would resume strikes on Iran after the elections, and he replied: “No.”
Diplomatic efforts have heated up in recent days. Iranian officials left Qatar following discussions with mediators seeking an end to the war with the United States, while a draft agreement is being circulated and another meeting remains possible, an official familiar with the negotiations said on November 2.
Listing a few domestic and foreign-policy priorities in his address, Trump singled out Iran, saying, “We’re not going to allow them to have a nuclear weapon.”
The war with Iran has contributed heavily to high energy prices globally and high US gasoline prices, adding to an array of challenges Trump’s Republican Party faces as it seeks to maintain control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
Opinion polls indicate the Democratic Party is likely to gain control of the House and has a chance to capture a majority of seats in the Senate.
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