President Donald Trump speaks on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center on September 9, 2026 in Dallas, Texas.
Alex Wong | Getty Images
US President Donald Trump has said he has no regrets about starting the Iran war, adding: “If we had to go to war again, I would do exactly what I did.”
President Trump spoke with Fox News host Laura Ingraham in the United States on Thursday and said he would attack Iran despite the impact on the midterm elections.
“If we didn’t fight Iran, we would be on our way to winning the midterm elections by now,” Ingraham told Trump, to which Trump replied, “Assuming we were cruising, all of a sudden Iran has a nuclear weapon. They’re going to use it.”
He added that if Iran acquired nuclear weapons, the Islamic Republic would “wipe out” Israel and the Middle East and launch attacks on American cities.
His comments came as markets braced for a protracted Iran war after a Wall Street Journal report revealed that senior White House advisers had been talking with President Trump about the possibility of the war extending beyond his current term.
Trump said the war would end soon after the midterm elections and that oil and gas prices would fall, adding to months of claims that the conflict would end soon.
In separate comments to NewsNation on Thursday, President Trump denied reports that there had been damage to U.S. assets after Iran claimed it had damaged multiple U.S. military jets at a base in Jordan.
When asked if there was any truth to the reports, President Trump replied, “There was no damage. There was nothing.”
economic pressure
The US government continues its efforts to isolate Iran from its economic networks, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent planning to impose sanctions on “big banks” next week.
“We’re going to do it on Monday because we want to honor the memory of our people who died on 9/11. But watch this space on Monday.”
Bessent said the regime had sanctioned and closed the Dubai branch of Egypt’s second-largest bank after the bank gave $1.8 billion to Iran. “Turkey’s largest banks” that provided funds to Iran were also sanctioned, although Bessent did not specify which banks.
In the NewsNation interview, President Trump was also asked how Iran could hold up under the current economic pressures.
“I don’t know if they’re going to hold out,” Trump said. “But it will be resolved after the election. Maybe sooner. But it will be resolved immediately after the election.”
