U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he leaves the South Lawn of the White House October 7, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he no longer wanted a deal with Iran, following reports that the US military was preparing for possible strikes against the country, possibly before the midterm elections.
“I think the deal is not really something I want to do, but they’re willing to offer us anything to stop it,” Trump said at a campaign rally with Republican candidates in San Antonio, Texas, on Wednesday evening in the United States. Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, worked on the deal and is “doing very well,” Trump added.
The U.S. president and his national security team discussed the possibility of a resumption of large-scale U.S. military operations in the coming weeks, NBC News reported Wednesday, citing a U.S. official and another person familiar with the discussions.
Axios reported earlier today that a possible resumption of armed conflict could include “massive bombings” of Iranian energy, infrastructure and nuclear targets, adding that military aggression could influence the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections.
Trump has seen his approval rating fall to a record low due to concerns about the high cost of living, spurred by soaring gasoline and diesel prices.
Earlier this week, Trump said the biggest problem for Washington was that no one knew who was leading Iran during negotiations to end the conflict. Iranian officials have rejected the claims, saying “the problem is actually the opposite.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeli Baghaei highlighted the “conflicting positions and mixed messages from US officials.”
Crude oil prices remained high even as Middle East exports returned to pre-war levels, according to Kpler. Combined volumes of crude out of the Gulf, excluding Iran, as well as volumes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were around pre-conflict levels of 18.5 million barrels per day (Mbd).
“Normalization no longer needs to wait for a deal,” said Matt Wright, senior freight analyst at Kpler, predicting “slower and uneven normalization” in the event of continued conflict, with traffic recovering through operational adaptation rather than waiting for a diplomatic trigger.
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