Could Trump end the Iran war after Republicans' midterm election loss? | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News Podcast from. the BBC World Service. I'm Ankur Desai. Here's what's coming up. Could the Republicans massive midterm. election loss push Donald Trump to end. the war with Iran? Voters rejection of. President Trump's party has been widely. blamed on the war and its effect on the. economy. And Democrats say that ending. the conflict will be a top priority once. they control Congress. So what options does Donald Trump have. now? We'll ask a former Pentagon. staffer. >> He needs to decide which option is he. going to do? Is he going to deal? Is he.

going to do the status quo or he's going. to escalate into military action? >> And here from our diplomatic. correspondent. >> The Iranians feel. rather confident that they have scored a. victory. They essentially I think. believe that they have secured regime. change. >> Plus how much power do the Democrats. really have to change foreign policy? >> The big decisions about war and peace, although Congress should be playing a. role, it hasn't proven able to do so in. the past. >> [music].

>> Republicans have been doing some serious. soul searching after losing control of. the House and Senate to the Democrats in. what many in Washington have called a. rebuke of the Trump presidency. But in a. post on X, Vice President J.D. Vance has. said it's obvious why so many voters. turned on the GOP, even in conservative. strongholds. The reason we lost is the war, he wrote. Everyone knows why we lost. And any. honest conversation about where we go. from here must start there.

When he was asked about those comments, President Trump said he agreed with his. vice president, but did not regret the. decision to go to war. >> I think it's largely. true because it drove the gasoline up a. little bit short-term. And probably that's. probably it's true. But at the same. time, if I had it to do again, I'd have. to do it again because long-term. it's the only answer. You can't let Iran. have a nuclear weapon. >> feel like it was worth it? >> I do. Yeah. I mean, well, you have no. choice. I mean, I thought the oil would.

go up a lot and I did it on that basis. You have no choice. You have to do it. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. or everything that you see here. someday might not exist. >> Democrats seem just as clear-eyed about. voters' priorities. The party's top. senator, Chuck Schumer, said they would. work to lower the cost of living and end. the war with Iran. >> We've seen too many Americans die on our. streets and in uniform overseas. because of Trump's erratic judgment. The. American people don't know what the heck.

we're fighting for in Iran. He's never. made it clear. He changes his mind. day to day and minute to minute. This war must end. It must end. >> So what could President Trump do now? Darren Selnick is a former deputy chief. of staff to Secretary of Defense Pete. Hegseth. He told the BBC that if Mr. Trump wants to end the war on his own. terms without the Democrats'. involvement, he may be running out of. time. >> President Trump is not going to do what.

President Biden did. He's not going to. end it with just a withdraw. like he did with Afghanistan. So the. president has to look at how do I end. this war quickly? Really, time is. running out because of a new Congress. coming in. The new Congress doesn't take. effect until January. So he really has a. two-month window where he can really act. without having funds cut off or or other. such pressures. So. he needs to decide which option is he. going to do? Is he going to deal? Is he. going to. do the status quo or is he going to. escalate into military action?

Hopefully, the Pentagon is giving him. some new options because it has not. succeeded in what they wanted and they. bombed all the normal targets. So they need some new options. Are they. going to go after energy infrastructure? Are they going to go over infrastructure. overall? Take out some top brass in the. Iranian military. But Iran should not get the wrong idea. Just because of the losses in the. election does not going to change the. president's resolve. This is his legacy. He's one way or. another he's going to end the nuclear. program. It can be a more peaceful way.

or it can be a strikes. That is his. going to be his legacy. >> So the options before President Trump. are broadly the same as they've been for. months. Try to work out a diplomatic. agreement with Iran or double down on. military force. The US has been launching what it called. limited and defensive strikes on Iran in. recent days. Could those be ramped up? It's a. question for our diplomatic. correspondent Paul Adams. >> Well look all the indications uh sort of. the the the military indications.

in the run-up to the election have been. that the United States and probably. Israel too are getting ready to resume. some kind of military action. Uh we've seen uh as many as three. carrier groups being directed towards. the Gulf. So the hardware may well be there fairly. soon. Uh however. you know clearly JD Vance. made a pretty significant intervention. yesterday.

saying very very bluntly that one of the. main reasons why the Republicans lost. the election was because of the war uh. in Iran. The president has somewhat. grudgingly acknowledged pretty much the. same. although he said that given the. opportunity. to go to war with Iran he would do it. all again. I think there's a feeling that the. prospects for an immediate resumption of. hostilities seem to have receded. Clearly the markets feel. that this is the case. You've seen the.

price of oil falling quite sharply in. the last few days particularly in the. wake of what JD Vance said. Uh but you know there are two years to. go. Uh Iran is very much unfinished business. uh for Donald Trump. The Iranians feel. rather confident that they have scored a. victory. They essentially I think. believe that they have secured regime. change of a kind in Washington which is. kind of ironic given what the Americans.

and others were saying about Iran. earlier on in this conflict. And so the. Iranians will drive a very hard bargain. in any diplomatic effort to resolve this. crisis, particularly when it comes to. things like what Iran regards as its. sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. So Donald Trump has this dilemma and it. could be that at some point in the next, you know, months, two years, he decides. to revert to. the the use of military force. >> Now, if President Trump were to press.

ahead with strikes on Iran, could the. Democrats' congressional majority stop. him or could he override them with his. executive powers? Again, here's Paul. Adams. >> You know, executive power has been. concentrated more and more in the hands. of the presidency. in the president over the last two or. three decades and certainly that is. Donald Trump's preferred way of of of. dealing with issues. And when it comes. to foreign policy, it is something that. constitutionally he has much greater. leeway. You know, the the the Democrats.

can't change his policy. All they can do. is attempt to put some roadblocks in the. way when it comes to oversight, demanding that the administration. explain its actions and of course the. purse strings, you know, not funding certain. operations. So you know, they have the. ability to to cramp his style but not to. change his policy. >> Well, as Paul mentioned there, the. Democrats will only have so much power. to dictate foreign policy from the House. and Senate. And while Democrats and.

Republicans alike have argued that. midterm voters wanted President Trump to. focus more on domestic issues like the. economy rather than foreign wars, there. is no guarantee he will change tack. Dr. HA Hellyer is a senior associate fellow. at the Defense and Security Think Tank. RUSI. >> What we know of President Trump is that. frankly he's quite mercurial. One would think given the the scale of. the loss that the Republican Party has. suffered over the last couple of days.

would cause a rethink. I'm not sure that we should make that. assumption. Foreign policy is completely in the. hands of the executive and in the hands. of the White House. And it may well be. that President Trump decides that in. order to make his presidential power. felt, he will actually dedicate more. attention to foreign policy as opposed. to focusing domestically. In which case. we can expect an escalation with Iran. quite soon over the next couple of weeks. or even sooner than that.

We we simply don't know. It was a very. poor decision strategically to go to war. back in February. There were many warnings about it in. advance. He still chose to do it. When. it comes to certain aspects, particularly around budgets and the. transfer of. of funding for particular things, yes, there's some oversight from Congress, but the big decisions about war and. peace, although Congress should be. playing a role, it hasn't proven able to do so in the. past.

And I suspect that nearly every Middle. East capital, if not all of them, are. concerned that President Trump will. react to this latest loss, which is a. massive loss, not just for the. Republican Party but for him personally, by focusing on the region in particular. and trying to show that he's still in. charge. He tweeted yesterday, President. Trump is still your president. The fact. that he felt the need to remind. Americans of that is quite telling in. and of itself. >> And that's all for now. To hear more. about the topics we covered today, you.

can find the audio version of the Global. News podcast wherever you get your BBC. podcasts from. If you'd like to get in. touch, our contact details are below. I'm Ankur Desai. Until next time, goodbye. >> [music].