Why is Trump risking midterm disaster by resuming an already unpopular war with Iran?

‘There’s basically no timeline in which this makes any sense for preserving [Republicans’] midterm performance.’ Photograph: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images View image in fullscreen ‘There’s basically no timeline in which this makes any sense for preserving [Republicans’] midterm performance.’ Photograph: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images Analysis Why is Trump risking midterm disaster by resuming an already unpopular war with Iran? Robert Tait in Washington Less than a month after hailing a ceasefire, Trump resumed strikes on Iran, a move experts warn could prolong the war and hurt Republicans ahead of midterms For half a century, Donald Trump has performed a public high-wire act based on high-stakes risks and shattering time-honored norms to get what he wants. The approach has paid off handsomely, helping him survive multiple bankruptcies to reach billionaire status and numerous legal and political scandals to be elected US president twice. Now a leader who once owned some of the world’s best-known casinos may be about to take the biggest gamble of his presidency by restarting a war with Iran less than a month after agreeing to a ceasefire that he hailed as necessary to stop an economic crisis on a par with the Great Depression . In the past week, Trump has ordered a resumption of strikes against Iranian military and infrastructure targets after concluding that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) he signed in the Palace of Versailles on 17 June was dead in the water. Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes against US allies in the Gulf. The MoU was the subject of biting criticism from the Republicans’ neoconservative wing, who denounced it as a capitulation to Iran. US hits civilian infrastructure as it expands strikes against Iran Read more Less than four months before November’s midterm elections in which Democrats are seeking to recapture both houses of Congress, Trump appears to be flirting with electoral disaster in re-stoking a war that is already unpopular with voters – not least for its inflationary impact on fuel and living costs. “There’s basically no timeline in which this makes any sense for preserving [Republicans’] midterm performance,” said Curt Mills , executive editor of the American Conservative, a magazine promoting isolationist foreign policy goals favored by Trump’s “American first” supporters. View image in fullscreen Smoke rises after a strike at an unknown location during what the US military says is its latest wave of strikes on Iran. Photograph: US Central Command/Reuters “I think it’s a total loser. It’s evidence that Trump doesn’t really care about the midterms. He’s like Icarus with the sun with this stuff – it seems to be a personal vendetta with the Iranians.” Beyond the electoral impact, experts warn that escalation could lead inexorably to a land invasion of Iranian territory – a decision which could in turn bring on the sort of long-term “forever wars” he previously foreswore and condemned past presidents for. “M