The Wall Street Journal reported that senior officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration have privately acknowledged that Washington’s war on Iran could continue for years and potentially extend beyond Trump’s current term, despite repeated public claims that Tehran is nearing defeat.
According to US officials cited by the newspaper, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other senior figures have warned Trump that Iran may be capable of withstanding Washington’s military pressure, naval blockade, and economic siege for far longer than the White House has publicly suggested.
The discussions expose a widening gap between the administration’s rhetoric of an approaching victory and its preparations for an open-ended confrontation with Iran.
Trump told reporters Wednesday that the war would end “immediately” after the November midterm elections “because they can’t hold out any longer.”
Behind closed doors, however, senior officials have reportedly discussed scenarios in which the confrontation continues beyond January 2029, when Trump is scheduled to leave office.
The assessment comes as the Pentagon increasingly organizes its military presence in West Asia around a prolonged conflict rather than an imminent end to hostilities.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has extended some US military deployments in the region into 2027, while several air-defense units could remain deployed indefinitely, according to people familiar with Pentagon planning.
Around 50,000 US troops are currently stationed across West Asia, backed by air-defense batteries, fighter aircraft, naval forces, and Marine units.
Rather than withdrawing those forces, Washington is continuing a system of rotations intended to preserve its military presence.
A third Marine Expeditionary Unit is preparing to deploy to the region later this year, following the arrival of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in March and its replacement by the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit in June.
The US Air Force is likewise rotating fighter squadrons, with Air National Guard F-16s replacing aircraft returning to Aviano Air Base in Italy.
The moves suggest that Washington is preparing its forces for a sustained military campaign even as Trump publicly insists that Iran will soon be forced to concede.
The Trump administration has increasingly relied on a combination of naval blockade, sanctions, and military strikes in an effort to force Tehran into accepting US demands regarding its nuclear program.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has promoted the strategy, dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast,” as an alternative to maintaining continuous large-scale combat operations.
Trump has privately expressed a preference for bringing the conflict to a rapid conclusion, according to the WSJ, but he has simultaneously backed a prolonged economic siege aimed at weakening Iran and restricting its ability to export energy and conduct maritime trade.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales claimed, “President Trump has destroyed Iran’s military capabilities and is crippling what’s left of its abysmal economy with the most powerful naval blockade in world history and crushing sanctions.”
“Only President Trump knows what he will do and when,” she added.
However, the private warnings reportedly delivered to Trump by his own advisors indicate that Washington does not expect those measures to necessarily force an Iranian capitulation in the near term.
Vice President JD Vance last week also declined to offer a timeline for ending US military operations, while simultaneously refusing to describe the confrontation as a war.
“It would be irresponsible for us to write out our strategy and our timeline for an Iranian nation that simply cannot honor its commitments and cannot stop shooting.
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