June 15, 2026 10:05 AM UTC

Did Trump Lose The War On Iran?

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• by: Colorado Pols

News headlines over the weekend were dominated by the news of an impending deal ending the over three-month-old war on Iran, after some three dozen false announcements by President Donald Trump that such a deal was imminent while the global economy teetered–but as the Washington Post reports, the question of who actually prevailed in this conflict is very much up for debate:

A return to a version of the status quo was a far cry from the original aims of a war effort that kicked off with a vow to come to the aid of the Iranian protesters who had taken to their nation’s streets to denounce their regime. Once strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in the opening hours of the war, Trump told Iranians that the moment to seize back their nation had come…

But as readers know,

An uprising never happened. In the nearly four months since, Iranian leaders demonstrated an ability to withstand withering attacks from the most powerful military in history, shut down the Strait of Hormuz, cripple global energy markets, and drive such a deep wedge between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. leader spent part of his 80th birthday Sunday cursing out his Israeli counterpart to journalists.

As for the stated objective of the war once it was clear that regime change wasn’t happening–making sure Iran would “never” possess nuclear weapons?

In promoting a deal that halted the fighting, Trump and his top lieutenants said Iran had agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon. But Iranian leaders, who have made similar pledges repeatedly for decades, suggested Sunday that the difficult conversations about their nuclear program were still ahead and would come only after the U.S. naval blockade on their ports was lifted.

In summary, there’s nothing in this “deal” other than reopening the Strait of Hormuz and going back to the table for more negotiations. Markets are responding positively to the news, and they should–but nothing in this agreement justifies the expense and loss of life of the last three and a half months of war. There’s nothing to show American consumers dealing with price hikes now spreading throughout the economy how this was worth the pain they’re experiencing.

Trump’s loyal surrogates like Colorado’s Rep. Gabe Evans are going to push the end of the war Trump started as a victory, but with nothing tangible to show for the effort, this has just been three months of pain for consumers who were promised the opposite. Unless Trump is planning to give back American consumers the extra money they’re spending as a direct result of his “war of choice” on Iran like he is to businesses filing for tariff refunds, we all just emptied our wallets for the status quo ante.

To say that is not a winning midterm election message is a huge understatement.