Trump’s Iran war: could Republican rift and Maga discontent doom midterms?

A recent poll has found that 79 per cent of Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 would support a declaration of victory and quick end to the war on Iran.

Photo: Getty Images via AFP US President Donald Trump’s war on Iran has not only exposed White House decision-making flaws but also “clear cracks” within the Republican Party and his political base, observers in China say, warning of the risks posed to the party’s midterm prospects.

As the US-Israel war with Iran enters its fifth week, mixed signals from Trump and his administration continue to trigger questions about the trajectory of Operation Epic Fury and the exit strategy.

Trump has repeatedly claimed victory, most recently on Tuesday, when he said that a deal on ending the war could be in sight.

But on Wednesday, the White House warned that Trump was ready to “unleash hell” on Iran if Tehran did not accept a peace deal.

On Friday, Trump warned that the war with Iran was “not finished”, and that the US had thousands of targets left to strike in Iran.

The risk of escalation continued to soar over the weekend as American military officials announced on Saturday that more than 3,500 US troops had arrived in the Middle East.

The Pentagon is reportedly preparing a “final blow” against Iran, including weeks of ground operations.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen also entered the war on Saturday, launching ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time in the current conflict.

In the US, demonstrators in cities across the nation rallied over the weekend as part of the “No Kings” protests against the war, federal immigration enforcement and the rising cost of living.

There is growing disquiet within Trump’s support base over the handling of the conflict, with unease also appearing to mount among officials.

On March 17, top counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigned over the war on Iran, saying the country had posed “no imminent threat” to America and he could not “in good conscience support the ongoing war”.

Chinese observers noted that Kent’s resignation – coupled with Trump’s inconsistent messaging on the objectives, scale and duration of the operation – had exposed the deepening fractures within the president’s war room.

The administration failed to fully prepare for the military campaign, they argued, citing a lack of in-depth assessment and long-term planning.

Diao Daming, a professor of international relations at Renmin University, said the Trump administration’s views on th

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