Our most recent book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics. The first year of the second Trump administration has been full of ominous developments.
War and economic woes will hurt the GOP in November. The only question is how much.
Trump's war drove gas prices up. Now Vance says that the war's purpose is to lower gas prices. Incoherent.
Keeping gas prices low is now the United States’ “goal No. 1” in the Iran war, Vice President JD Vance has said, as Washington threatened an indefinite naval blockade and signaled it would soon intensify economic pressure on Tehran.
The comments appeared to be the latest shift in the public rationale for the conflict, with Vance ranking Iran’s nuclear ambitions second.
The vice president’s remarks came as the Trump administration embraced a long-term effort to inflict more damage on the Islamic Republic, despite growing signs of strain on American forces and domestic pressure ahead of the midterm elections.
President Donald Trump has suggested a shift away from military force in favor of “low-keying it” with economic pressure. That followed a deadly cycle of tit-for-tat exchanges that produced no clear resolution and depleted U.S. reserves of missile interceptors
Gas prices are down from their May peak, but still up 25% from one year ago.
— Steve Rattner (@SteveRattner) August 12, 2026
They will remain elevated as long as oil supply is blocked in the Strait of Hormuz. pic.twitter.com/XOzs8hhD94
