Office Hours: How Will Trump’s War Be Viewed by Midterm Voters?

Friends,

We’re coming to the end of Trump’s war in Iran, mainly because Trump is under huge pressure to lower gas prices and prevent additional inflation before the midterms. He was elected in 2024 mainly to reduce prices, yet prices are now 4.2 percent higher than they were at this time a year ago. Pay hasn’t kept up, meaning most Americans are poorer.

So the big question is how Americans are likely to judge this war when they vote in just 131 days (or earlier, if they can vote by mail). That’s the subject of today’s Office Hours.

Trump’s war with Iran has been a huge failure by every criterion — energy prices, American security, Iran’s bargaining leverage via the Strait of Hormuz, the war’s cost in lives and dollars, and the hardliners in Iran’s leadership who are now more likely to want to build nuclear weapons.

But what is its effect on American politics? I’ve made the rounds of political and media analysts, seeking their views on how Americans are likely to view Trump’s war and what impact those views are likely to have on the midterm vote. I’ve grouped their responses below:

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