Expert on Trump
“In a situation where there is no easy way out”
Updated on August 27, 2026 – 12:49 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
The war in Iran should actually be over long ago, but instead it has now been going on for half a year. There is still no way out for Trump in sight.
As a “short trip” and “little skirmish” had Donald Trump initially dismissed the Iran war. But the military conflict has now lasted six months and has become an immense burden for the US President. Before the congressional midterm elections, the “midterms” at the beginning of November, is growing in the USA continued dissatisfaction with Trump’s course. His claims of imminent victory over Tehran have lost much of their credibility.
Before his re-election, Trump had repeatedly assured that he would not involve the USA in further “forever wars” like the one in Iraq and in Afghanistan lead. Now he finds it himself Iran no way out. At least 18 US soldiers have been killed since the war began; more than 750 were injured. The war massively increased the cost of fuel and living in the United States, as well as the national debt.
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A recent YouGov poll for the British weekly magazine “The Economist” showed that US citizens want a quick end to the war. However, 50 percent now believe that the war will last another year or longer.
“I think his hat is empty”
Trump was “convinced that he could repeat in Iran what happened in Venezuela succeeded, a quick demonstration of power,” says political scientist Garret Martin from the American University in Washington. “Now he is in a situation from which there is no easy way out.” Trump lacks a credible exit strategy, says William Galston of the Brookings Institution think tank. “Does he have a rabbit in his hat?” asks Galston. “No, I think his hat is empty.”
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) accused Trump in the spring of “obviously no strategy” in the Iran war. Merz also saw the United States as “humiliated” by the Iranian government. Trump responded by publicly announcing the previously planned withdrawal of thousands of US soldiers from Germany.
Netanyahu is said to have persuaded Trump to go to war
The 80-year-old now reacts irritably and even boredly when asked about Iran. He prefers to rave about his construction projects, such as the ballroom at the White House or the Arc de Triomphe, rather than answer recurring questions about them Strait of Hormuz and to respond to the massive increase in fuel prices.
