Exclusive: With Iran war exit elusive, Trump aides vie to affect outcome

Exclusive: With Iran war exit elusive, Trump aides vie to affect outcome

Reuters -March13th2026

By Nandita Bose, Matt Spetalnick and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) – A complex tug-of-war inside the White House is driving U.S. President Donald Trump’s shifting public statements on the course of the Iran war, as aides debate when and how to declare victory even as the conflict spreads across the Middle East.

Some officials and advisers are warning Trump that surging gasoline prices could exact a political cost from the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, while some hawks are pressing the president to maintain the offensive against the Islamic Republic, according to interviews with a Trump adviser and others close to the deliberations.

Their observations to Reuters offer a previously unreported glimpse inside White House decision-making as it adjusts its approach to the biggest U.S. military operation since the 2003 Iraq war.

SHIFTING MESSAGES, VARIOUS INTERNAL VIEWPOINTS

The behind-the-scenes maneuvering underscores the high stakes Trump, who ‌returned to office last year promising to avoid “stupid” military interventions, faces nearly two weeks after plunging the nation into a war that has rattled global financial markets and disrupted the international oil trade.

The jockeying for Trump’s ear is a feature of his presidency, but this time the consequences are a matter of war and peace in one of the world’s most volatile and economically critical regions.

Shifting from the sweeping goals he framed in launching the war on February 28, Trump in recent days has emphasized that he views the conflict as a limited campaign whose objectives have mostly been met.

Aftermath of an Israeli and the U.S. strike on a police station in Tehran

But the message remains unclear to many, including the energy markets, which have lurched in both directions in response to Trump’s statements.

He told a campaign-style rally in Kentucky on Wednesday that “we won” the war, then abruptly pivoted: “We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job.”

Economic advisers and officials, including from the Treasury Department and the National Economic Council, have warned Trump that an oil shock and rising gasoline prices could quickly erode domestic support for the war, said the adviser and two others close to the deliberations, speaking on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal discussions.

Political advisers, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief James Blair, are making similar arguments, focusing on the political fallout from higher gas prices and urging Trump ⁠to define victory narrowly and signal the operation is limited and nearly finished, the sources said.