With the Iran war now locked in a costly standoff and crises from Ukraine to Gaza still unresolved, President Donald Trump’s ambitious foreign policy agenda appears increasingly stuck as he heads toward November’s midterm elections.
The setbacks are striking for a president who returned to office last year promising to be a “peacemaker” and made resolving international conflicts a centerpiece of his second-term agenda.
Trump has grown increasingly impatient with reporters’ questions and even with U.S. allies. This week, he lashed out at journalists pressing him on foreign policy and renewed a threat to bomb Oman, a U.S. ally that has been negotiating with Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump called off talks with Tehran after weeks of pushing for a diplomatic solution and announced Wednesday a new campaign of “economic warfare” against the Islamic Republic, an apparent acknowledgment that months of military attacks have failed to force the concessions Washington wants.
As inflation persists and the Iran war drives gasoline prices higher, Trump’s approval rating has fallen to another low. Just 33% of Americans approved of his performance in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Other peace efforts have also stalled. On Monday, Trump’s negotiator and son-in-law Jared Kushner left talks on advancing a Gaza peace agreement without a breakthrough. An expected visit to Kyiv by Kushner and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, aimed at reviving long-stalled negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, has yet to take place.
After a string of early foreign policy achievements, including a Gaza ceasefire and the capture of Venezuela’s leader, Trump’s record has become increasingly defined by diplomatic efforts that have failed to produce lasting settlements.
“Trump has successfully challenged and disrupted the comfortable foreign policy consensus in Washington, but has not translated that disruption into a strategy with deliverables for Americans,” said Asli Aydintasbas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
The conflict with Iran has weighed “intensely” on the president, and there is no consensus inside the White House on how to resolve it, according to one Trump ally who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The pressure could increase if investors conclude the war will drag on, driving up U.S. borrowing costs and further constraining Trump’s domestic agenda. Trump has argued that the economic costs are worth bearing to ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon, despite Tehran’s denials that it seeks one.
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