'See who bows': Trump’s failures force him into a 'game of chicken'

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during an executive order signing on mail ballots, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 31, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

Following President Donald Trump’s assertion that negotiations to end the war with Iran have halted completely, he has entered a “game of chicken” that will test how much economic pressure he can stand. This is according to CNN Chief National Security Analyst Jim Sciutto, who took to social media to note how Trump’s failures have forced him into a tight spot.

Sciutto was responding to a morning post from Trump, in which the president declared, “There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated.”

Setting aside questions many have raised about the accuracy of Trump’s assertion that the waterway is “open,” Sciutto recognized another worrying aspect of the president’s statement. As he notes, “The strategy had been, first, that military action would force Iran to the table and, second, that economic pressure would. Neither has worked so far. Now, the U.S. and Iran enter a game of chicken, in effect, to see who bows to economic pressure first.”

The Trump administration, as Sciutto suggests, has consistently maintained that the Iranian regime would either surrender or collapse under the weight of military or economic pressure. But the war has dragged on despite Trump’s frequent boasts of having “totally destroyed” Iran’s military, and while the Iranian people have suffered under the economic consequences, the regime has largely found ways to work around the situation, such as charging fees for passage through Hormuz – a practice it’s been leveraging for several months.

Now that Trump is in an economic game of chicken, he faces another problem. Iran is an authoritarian state where the government is under no political pressure to concede. Trump, on the other hand, leads a democracy where the midterms are approaching fast, and Republicans are feeling voter frustration at the economic catastrophe caused by the war. New polling shows that Democrats have a 6-point lead over Republicans on the question of which party is better at handling the economy — a major reversal on past perceptions.

That’s bad news for Republicans, as the poll found that 29 percent of voters rate the economy and jobs as their top midterm issue, while 40 percent say inflation and cost of living are their most pressing concerns. Another 18 percent said that their top priority is the war with Iran. This has resulted in growing anger toward the GOP, prompting Republican analysts to warn that the party may lose its majority in the House and possibly even the Senate, which would result in a massive check against Trump’s agenda.

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