'Ready to move on': Trump adviser says he’s growing increasingly 'bored' with Iran war
5h
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
President Donald Trump is growing increasingly "bored" with the Iran war, according to Jonathan Lemire of The Atlantic, describing comments from and "outside adviser" who speaks "regularly" with the president.
According to Lemire's Friday report, "Trump really, really wants the war with Iran to end."
It turns out the war is far more difficult than Trump anticipated, and it has lasted much longer than he expected, the report said.
"He doesn’t want to be bogged down in a Middle East conflict like some of his predecessors were. He doesn’t want it to upend his high-stakes summit next week in China. He is ready to move on," said Lemire.
Iran, on the other hand, appears to be enjoying its successes over the world's largest military giant, the United States. The ceasefire is on rocky ground, and advisors think that Trump can somehow "sell any sort of agreement as a win," the report said.
As of Friday, Washington is on hold as officials wait for Iran to agree to a one-page "memorandum of understanding" that Lemire described as little more than an extension of the ceasefire rather than a full treaty.
"Trump is left with a vexing question: How do you end a war when your opponent won’t budge? And while Trump grasps for an exit, the hard-liners in Tehran have used the war to tighten their grip on power. Iran seems hell-bent on pulling off something it’s historically done well: humiliating an American president," the reporter said, mentioning the propaganda and asymmetric warfare that Iran has deployed online.
In a number of videos, Trump and many of his Cabinet officials are ridiculed for being bumbling fools or outright drunk on the job.
Previous reports noted that Trump was on a high after his success swooping in to nab Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. He passed his "One Big Beautiful Bill," achieved his tariff scheme, captured Maduro and turned to Iran, thinking it would be just as easy.
In a column for Foreign Affairs, Nate Swanson, a former Trump staffer and current senior fellow and director of the Iran Strategy Project at The Atlantic Council, wrote that Trump "cannot force surrender on a government that refuses it. Even after the heavy damage to Iran's military, the regime ... has powerful incentives to pursue continued conflict, and it retains a variety of tools to sustain a war of attrition."
A leaked CIA report revealed by the Washington Post said: "Iran can survive the U.S. naval blockade for at least 3 to 4 months before facing more severe economic hardship, a finding that contradicts those hailing an imminent collapse."
While the adage might claim that patience is a virtue, it isn't one Trump has.
So, the two sides are at an impasse, with the only resolution to escalate or cut and run. The latter is a possibility, the report said.
"Even without a formal agreement, Trump has considered declaring decisive victory and moving on. Secretary of State Marco Rubio went so far as to say earlier this week that the war was over. But doing so now would leave the conflict’s goals, as outlined at various times by the president and his aides, unfulfilled," wrote Lemire.
Aides also told him Trump doesn't want to resume the attacks. For all of Trump's bluster and threats to "wipe out" Iran or "bomb them back to the Stone Age," he's starting to worry about the U.S. supply of weapons.
"There is concern about the dwindling supply of American munitions, and Trump this week expressed reluctance about killing more people," the report said.
Technically, there is still a ceasefire, but when Iran fired on a U.S. naval vessel on Thursday, the U.S. hit sites in Iran. Trump swore it wasn't an indication that the ceasefire was over. He simply called it “a love tap.”
The most significant concern is if the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues. If it stays closed for several more months, the global economy would suffer, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin told the Semafor World Economy conference last month. The war has already surpassed the 60-day mark.
“Let’s assume [the strait is] shut down for the next six to 12 months — the world’s going to end up in a recession,” said Griffin. “There’s no way to avoid that.”
Biographer Michael Wolff said in March that Trump appeared to be "having a blast" with his war. It took only a few weeks for insiders to expose that Trump is "getting a little bored with" the war he started.
Republican lawmakers are growing concerned as they face angry constituents complaining about high fuel prices, increasing food costs and more. They're expected to lose the House in the 2026 elections, but the longer it continues, the more they fear they could also lose the U.S. Senate.