President Donald Trump seems to be content with taking his time with Iran. In a recent interview with CNBC, he emphasized his desire to make a strong deal and also referenced past wars America was involved in. He makes a fair point that the Iran War, despite all the negative traction it has gained, is not yet a “forever” war on the scale of past conflicts such as Vietnam or Afghanistan. 

It is encouraging to see that Trump is willing to play the long game, if it means actually tackling the Iran problem and not just kicking it down the road for someone else. But his blunder was that he and his administration tried to sell the current war as a short military operation like that of Venezuela. He underestimated Iran’s desperation, and is now realizing that toppling the now fragmented, yet hardened, regime will take much more time.

The real question is if he has time. Midterms are coming up, and a Congress that flips blue may force a war powers vote on the President. He is stuck between a rock and a hard place. At this rate, he may either give up prematurely or be forced to pull back by Congress. Trump and his administration need to realize that war, though sometimes necessary, is not so “epic” as they imagine, and needs to be justified well before a democratic populace that is growing disillusioned. If Trump loses in Iran, it will not be because America is militarily weak, but because he neglected and lost the home front.