A few hours after the fifth ultimatum of Donald Trump to the Iranian regime to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and definitively commit to destroying all the enriched uranium accumulated in recent years, the US president recognized for the first time the difficulties of the operation in the context of North American public opinion.
“The Americans don’t want war. If it were up to me, I would stay there and take all the oil, but, unfortunately, they are the ones who want us to return home,” said the tycoon.
Approval of Trump’s performance is now at 39.8% after reaching 39.4% last weekend, before the release of the air colonel hidden in Iran since his F-15 was shot down on Friday.
This is the minimum at this point for any president in any non-consecutive term.
The success of the rescue operation can help Trump increase that popularity and, in some way, “save face” in the face of a possible withdrawal of Iran before meeting the set objectives.
In that sense we must understand the press conference he gave this Monday at the White House. Trump called the rescue “historic” and congratulated himself for having made the decision to risk possible casualties in exchange for “not leaving behind” either the pilot or the missing crew member.
“He managed to climb to a location distant from the landing point despite bleeding profusely. He had to treat his wounds firsthand,” said the president, who wanted to make it clear that no other army in the world could do something similar.
The New York tycoon also took the opportunity to threaten the press, stating that he will investigate the media outlet that published the news for having jeopardized the operation: “Someone leaked that there was someone still missing in Iran and they will have to tell us who it was or they will go to jail.
He appealed to reasons of national security, a dangerous path that can serve at one time to silence the press in other contexts for fear of the possible consequences.
“They ask us to bomb them”
As for the war itself, Trump said Iran’s latest offer for a ceasefire was “significant” but “insufficient.”
Publicly, the Government of Iran continues to deny any negotiations with the White House, although the US media suggests that these messages come from Pakistan and Türkiye and that both Steve Witkoff as Jared Kushner They correspond by telephone with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abás Araqchi.
To add further confusion, Trump has been talking for several days about “the new moderate leaders” who govern Iran without anyone knowing very well who he is referring to.
The regime’s chain of command remains essentially the same as before the start of the war, although in his press conference, the president spoke of the regime change as something already accomplished. It is not clear who is informing him or who exactly he is talking to.
“Everything can end in one night and that night could be Wednesday,” he said, referring to his ultimatum, which ends at two in the morning, Spanish time.
It is very difficult to predict the president’s actions when on the same morning he leaked to Axios the offer of a forty-five-day truce, he later denied it, referring to Iran’s leaders as “animals” but later claiming that they were “negotiating in good faith” and downplaying the possible attack on civilian targets—an act that, if disproportionate, can be considered a war crime—because the Iranians themselves are apparently wanting it.
According to Trump, messages come to the Pentagon from Iranian civilians asking them to bomb more because they want freedom: “When they hear that the bombs stop falling, they ask us to come back and continue bombing.”
Regarding his alleged lack of planning, Trump stated that “of course I have a plan, but I’m not going to tell it to the media,” something that would make sense if, at the same time, he weren’t announcing measures and countermeasures all day on Truth Social.
Netanyahu presses
The messages are so contradictory that we no longer know what the objective is.
If Iran never had a nuclear weapon, it is assumed that this was achieved in Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025.
If it was a regime change, apparently, it has already been achieved.
If it was to irreversibly damage Iranian military capabilities, these five weeks of bombing by Israel and the United States should have been worth…
At times, Trump seems to open the door to a graceful solution – leaving, of course, the issue of Hormuz in the hands of Israel, the Arab countries and the Asian and European allies – but immediately afterwards he shows his determination to “wipe off the map” a country of ninety million inhabitants.
The markets, for now, remain waiting. Many feared that the price of oil would skyrocket this Monday, but it remained stable around $110 a barrel, 70% more than it cost at the beginning of the year.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuhe has considered it appropriate to continue putting pressure on Trump so that he does not leave the operation halfway.
In a phone call, Netanyahu insisted on the enormous danger that would entail leaving the current leadership in power with a clear excuse to rebuild the nuclear program – with the help of China, Russia and North Korea – and with a good part of the area’s trade – not only oil, but also fertilizers and other raw materials – in the hands of the whims of the Revolutionary Guard.
In short, Trump has three options before him right now: prolong the negotiations if he truly considers that there is “good faith” on the Iranian side – where five ultimatums fit, six fit -, bomb some installation in an almost testimonial way, continue boasting about what has been achieved and call the war over… or launch into the apocalypse that he likes to announce so much.
Of the three, only the first could momentarily calm the markets. Now, it is the one that solves the problem the least, it just kicks it forward, waiting for someone to come across it again in a few months. Hopefully, when the legislative elections are over.
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