Trump Says No Immediate Iran Strikes After Midterms but Remains “Locked and Loaded”

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has no immediate plans to resume large-scale military strikes on Iran following the midterm elections, in which Democrats gained control of both the House and Senate. In interviews with the Financial Times and Fox News, he described the current U.S. position as favorable while stating that American forces remain prepared to act if needed.

In a telephone interview with the Financial Times conducted before final results were known, Trump said, “We seem to be getting everything we want.” He added, “I’m ready, we’re ready. We’re locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it.” He described the situation as “a brilliant situation” and stated that the United States is “not really in a war” with Iran, citing prior operations including Operation Midnight Hammer as having “wiped out their nuclear potential incapacity.”

Trump later told Fox News that the conflict had contributed to Republican losses. “I think a part of it was Iran,” he said. “But at the same time, people understood the importance of what I’ve done with Iran. ... You can’t let the number one state sponsor of terror have a nuclear weapon. It’s the most dangerous country in the world, and we wiped them out practically. Haven’t finished a job, and maybe I will, and maybe I won’t.” He also said voters appeared unwilling to accept the short-term rise in gasoline prices associated with the conflict.

Indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran have continued through Qatari mediators in Doha. Vice President JD Vance has stated that there have been “a number of good conversations with the Iranians” and that the administration feels “pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement.” No deadline has been set for an agreement. Discussions have included Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and conditions related to the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials framed the midterm results as a rejection of the conflict. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has served as a lead negotiator, posted on X that Americans had voted “NO TO WAR” and that Iran endorsed the message. He wrote that if the U.S. government “betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare.” Other Iranian accounts linked the outcome to the economic costs of the war.

The most recent publicly confirmed U.S. military action occurred on Monday, when American forces conducted limited strikes on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. officials described the strikes as defensive and said they followed Iranian surface-to-air missile fire directed at U.S. aircraft and a threat to shipping. Trump later characterized the operation as a “minor attack” targeting an anti-aircraft facility. Iranian media reported explosions on the island; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had downed U.S. drones in the area.

Trump has repeatedly stated that Iran will not be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon. The new Congress is scheduled to be sworn in on January 3, 2027, leaving several weeks before Democrats formally take majority control of both chambers.