President Donald Trump is preparing his next strikes to hit the Middle East once the election has finished, according to a CNN report.
The details come on the heels of comments Zeteo's Asawin Suebsaeng cited from one Trump advisor who said, “It’s moron time, again."
The Trump aide said that following Nov. 3, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is repackaging the old strategy of endless bombing to see if they can get a "win" out of the Iran war.
They will begin 96 hours after the president makes the order, CNN reported.
"Sufficient forces are now deployed in the region to carry out the potential attacks, the sources said," according to CNN. "The scope of new US military operations would likely go beyond efforts to simply 'mow the lawn' or maintain the status quo by striking radars, launchers and other Iranian assets that can be quickly reconstituted — as has been the case since Trump halted full combat operations earlier this year, the sources added."
Thus far, that has not been a successful strategy for Trump, and the bombing he thought would end in a few weeks has now continued for eight months.
“It will be a big effort,” said one Trump official.
Former and current US officials who are aware of internal military planning discussions agreed. They believe it's a question of "when," not "if," Trump intends to issue a "go-order." Officials agree that he is leaning toward issuing the strikes again.
The report also noted that Iranian forces know more about the U.S. tactics being used and their goal is to ensure destroying targets is considerably more difficult.
One senior Pentagon official told CNN, “The Department is a planning organization, and its job is to develop and execute military options ordered by the President.”
For most of 2026, the Strait of Hormuz has blocked quick oil shipments from Iran and other states that use the waterway. The result has been a major increase in fuel costs worldwide. Those higher prices could ultimately destroy Republicans in the midterms.
Behind the scenes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing the U.S. to renew the strikes as his own election approaches this Tuesday.
“Netanyahu really wanted and tried to convince Trump for a joint attack in Iran before the elections, and Trump did not give a green light,” an Israeli security source told CNN.
If Netanyahu loses the election, The New York Times previously reported, it will be much harder to persuade the U.S. to back new war plans.
