Trump Calls Iran War Over Militarily as Oil Prices Dip Again After Remarks

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the war with Iran is effectively over in military terms and that new U.S. attacks are highly unlikely, according to the BBC and The Guardian. He said the United States is holding the current situation in place while negotiations continue. Oil prices slipped further after the remarks, the BBC reported.

Speaking to reporters in the White House press briefing room, Trump said he saw positive momentum toward ending the conflict. He added that the U.S. remains locked and loaded and could act if circumstances change.

What Trump said about escalation and the blockade

Trump told reporters that Israel and Gulf allies are well protected from Iran, so more military action does not seem necessary right now, The Guardian reported. He repeated that Iran will not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and said the U.S. is ready to return to full-scale military action if the situation changes. He called a return to such action quite unlikely for the moment.

According to the BBC, Trump said the current status quo is being kept largely at the request of Iran's neighbors. Earlier on Monday he wrote on Truth Social that the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait would prefer a continuation of the U.S. naval blockade, The Guardian said.

Asked why he would not formally declare the war over, Trump said some Gulf allies could still face Iranian aggression and that the U.S. must make sure they are not hurt. He suggested the blockade of Iranian ports was helping make the region safer, the BBC reported.

Talks with Qatar and the road to this point

The comments followed a meeting in the Oval Office with Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Trump described an excellent conversation about negotiations to end the war. In a post on X, the Qatari leader said he held positive discussions with Trump and Vice President JD Vance about reaching a deal and bringing peace to the region, according to the BBC. The Guardian reported that Qatar and other Gulf countries have lobbied Trump not to resume fighting.

The war began in February after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, and efforts to broker peace between Washington and Tehran have largely run indirectly through mediators, the BBC said. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE are among the Gulf states hit by Iranian strikes during the conflict.

The BBC and The Guardian both noted that Trump has made similar claims before. The Guardian said he has declared a final peace deal imminent dozens of times during the nearly nine-month war, and the BBC reported that Iranian officials have repeatedly voiced doubts about his earlier statements. Before the midterm elections, Trump said U.S. forces carried out what he called minor strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz. In an interview with 60 Minutes that aired Sunday, he said he saw no reason at present to escalate.

Why the midterm results matter here

The change in tone comes after a bruising election week for Republicans. The Guardian reported that the party lost both houses of Congress, and Vance said soon afterward that the Iran war was a key reason for the defeats. The Guardian also reported that the U.S. had kept moving troops to the Middle East before the vote, and that there was speculation the administration was waiting until after the election to resume a military campaign.

The fallout is already reaching the administration. The BBC reported that Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, citing the war, asked on Monday for a House vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump has backed Hegseth, who said he is not worried and called the effort a sham. The BBC said the move is unlikely to succeed while Republicans control Congress until January, but Democrats have said they would be willing to impeach Hegseth once they hold both chambers.

What this means for oil prices and travel

Global oil prices, which have fallen sharply since the midterms, dipped again after Trump spoke, according to the BBC. On Tuesday afternoon in Asia, Brent crude was down by more than 1% at $91.50 a barrel, while U.S.-traded crude was down 1.2% at $85.82.

For ordinary readers, the practical effect is in energy costs and travel. Lower crude prices tend to be watched closely by drivers and businesses, and the BBC noted that the war, including the threat of Iranian strikes, has caused major air travel disruptions in the Gulf region. Trump's comments point toward less risk of new fighting for now, but he has left open the option of resuming strikes, and Iranian officials have not embraced his optimism.

What to watch next

The next steps are talks through mediators such as Qatar and the question of whether the blockade stays in place. In Washington, the impeachment push against Hegseth is likely to resurface when the new Congress begins in January.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian, BBC News

Cover photo: The White House / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)