President Donald Trump again suggested the Iran war could be nearing its end as he took questions from reporters on the tarmac outside Air Force One.
“I think the war’s going to immediately end after the election,” Trump said Wednesday while departing for the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas.
The president added that, in his view, the Iranians “can’t hold out any longer.”
In characteristically Trumpian style, he is scheduled to address the Dallas convention on both nights, ensuring he remains the dominant presence at the Republican gathering.
Yet the lineup of attendees and speakers appears to offer a separate measure of Trump’s weakening political standing.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is not slated to speak, a notable omission that comes after Trump voiced frustration with the South Dakota Republican over stalled elements of his agenda, even as other House and Senate leaders received speaking slots.
A number of candidates in some of the nation’s most closely watched races are also avoiding the main stage, including Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins; Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, who is seeking a US Senate seat in Iowa; and John E. Sununu, the Republican nominee aiming to turn New Hampshire’s Senate seat red.
Most election forecasters expect Democrats to regain control of the US House of Representatives, while the battle for the Senate is expected to be more difficult, with competitive races in Maine, Ohio, Michigan and Alaska likely to decide which party holds the chamber.
President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One on September 9th, 2026 at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Texas. Trump is traveling to Dallas to attend the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention where he is scheduled to deliver the keynote address
Air Force personnel remove an emergency inflatable slide after it deployed on Air Force One before President Donald Trump arrived to board at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland
Trump’s own trip to Texas was delayed Wednesday after his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One deployed its emergency evacuation slide.
Pressed on whether the aircraft was safe to fly, Trump responded: ‘Yeah, I am, or I wouldn’t be on it.’
Minutes after the oddity unfolded, the slide was reportedly seen being taken away from the new plane gifted to Trump from Qatar.
After speaking with the press for a prolonged period as the slide was being dealt with, the President boarded the plane as the cameras were still rolling.
The Iran war has now lasted more than six months and claimed the lives of 18 American service members.
Vice President JD Vance was pressed about the case of one Air Force widow at Thursday’s White House briefing, when a CNN reporter asked him to make sure the family received its benefits.
The widow of a US soldier killed in the Iran war shared online that she was told her family would miss out on combat benefits because the Pentagon, under Pete Hegseth’s leadership, does not officially classify the conflict as a war.
Libby Klinner said that when she questioned her husband’s final paycheck, the officer assigned to support her after his death told her the family would not receive hazard pay or combat-related tax breaks because ‘we were not at war.’
Her husband, Major Alex Klinner, 33, died on March 12 when a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq while supporting US operations against Iran. The Alabama-based airman served with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron and was among six crew members killed in the crash.
He left behind three young children; a two-year-old son and twins who were seven months old when he died.
The couple married in 2019, with Libby moving to the Pacific Northwest for his job before they relocated to Birmingham, Alabama, in 2022.
‘My husband lost his life because we’re in a war,’ she told the Associated Press. ‘It all comes down to principle.’
After her statement circulated online, the Air Force contacted her again and said it had itemized her husband’s benefits incorrectly, and that combat pay and tax exclusions were in fact included.
Klinner said officials acknowledged on Thursday they had provided her inaccurate information and confirmed she had received everything her husband was owed.
Vance asked for Klinner’s name and promised the administration would contact her directly after the briefing.
‘We want to be as helpful as we can and ensure she gets everything that she is entitled to,’ he said.
Elsewhere in the briefing, Vance disputed calling the Iran conflict a war, saying there was ‘no active shooting’, although he acknowledged places where fighting had flared up.
Senior commanders warned Hegseth that prolonged Iran operations could weaken US defenses elsewhere, including at home, the Washington Post reported last week.
