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Thursday, July 9, 2026

Trump's war with Iran resumes. Now what?

With Donald Trump's official declaration that the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was off on Wednesday, his administration found itself in a familiar place.

The White House has been unable to answer one specific question for months: Why can't Trump find himself a way out of a war he has already declared to be over time and time again?

The answer appears to be obvious to everybody but the president's team. Despite every claim the White House and Pentagon have made about Iran's degraded capabilities, Tehran still has the power to seriously threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has been powerless to enforce a window of safe passage, though Trump promised he could do so.

Iranian forces targeted three tankers traversing the strait earlier in the week, setting one ablaze after warning them not to use a U.S.-protected route through the waterway.

In response, the U.S. launched dozens of strikes. It's not clear whether these latest efforts to knock out Iranian drone and missile capabilities will be any more successful than previous ones.

At the White House on Thursday, the president was quiet, with no scheduled events as he recuperated from a trip to Turkey for the Nato summit. As Washington looks to the future of the war with uncertainty, gas prices experienced their single biggest one-day spike since May.

In his absence, top officials are rudderless as the question is posed to them from both journalists and voters: Now what?

Read more here.

By John Bowden

Reading list

Daniel Keane: Why Trump desperately needs Nato’s help to get out of his mess in Iran
James C. Reynolds: Trump strikes Iran railway bridges on route to Khamenei’s funeral as ceasefire unravels

Daily briefing

Kash Patel’s ‘luxury’ perks and ‘out of control’ spending under microscope by congressional Democrats

FBI Director Kash Patel is facing an investigation from Democrats in Congress over his alleged misuse of taxpayer funds for luxury expenses, including a fleet of BMWs, while jet-setting on 'official' business that included jet ski trips and helicopter tours. Alex Woodward has the story.

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