Trump’s war on Iran is unpopular and expensive. He’s perfectly OK with that

Could it be … that Donald Trump isn’t a team player?The midterm elections are less than four months away, and Republicans in the House and the Senate – hampered by a deeply unpopular president and what might be an even less popular war – are increasingly fearful of losing their jobs. Even Trump’s base is beginning to turn against the conflict.Yet asked on Tuesday if Iran is trying to affect the midterm elections by threatening the Strait of Hormuz, the Republicans’ de facto leader was pretty blase.“Probably. It won’t have any impact on me. I’m just going to do the right thing. I don’t view it as: ‘Gee, we’re having an election in a period of time.’ You know, everyone says: ‘Oh, I’m doing something before’ – no. The election – I can’t think about that having to do with this,” Trump said.He added: “I think people are very impressed.”Unfortunately for Trump – and for Republicans in swing districts – all available evidence suggests people are very unimpressed with the president’s nearly five-month war in Iran.Just 28% of Americans think the Iran war is worth fighting, a Washington Post-Ipsos poll found last week; 68% believe it is not worth fighting. The same survey found that 29% of people believe “America’s leadership in the world has gotten stronger” under Trump; 52% think it has weakened.Amid surging prices linked to the Iran war, just 17% of Americans said they were better off financially than they were when Trump became president.Even Trump’s most hardcore supporters – the ones who heckle journalists at his rallies and wear T-shirts that say things like “Stomp my flag [and] I’ll stomp your ass” – are souring on the war.About 37% of self-identified Maga Trump voters say the US should continue the war in Iran only if it doesn’t increase costs, according to a Politico poll released on Wednesday. Moreover, 57% of voters who self-identify as Maga blame the war in Iran for the increase in gas prices.It is Not Good News, in other words, and this week some Fox News pundits issued urgent warnings to Trump to end the war.“With the midterm elections a little more than 100 days away, the clock is ticking for President Trump to get out of this war before voters head to the polls. It’s making a lot of Republicans nervous. It’s already, as we know, unpopular,” Laura Ingraham, usually a staunch Trump supporter, said on her show on Monday.“Republicans cannot let this become an endless distraction, especially if they want to win in November.”With no clear exit strategy, news of mounting injuries and more deaths of service members, there are good reasons for voters to focus on the war. And then there is the financial cost.During a contentious Senate hearing on Tuesday, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth – he of alleged strip club stage-storming fame – said the Iran war had cost $37.5bn so far, as he asked Congress to approve an $88bn supplemental funding request. With gas prices running at more than $4 a gallon – up from about $3 when Trump took office – the spiraling costs are hardly likely to be a vote-winner.It might be making Republicans in Congress nervous. But Trump, a president in his second term who is not eligible to run for re-election, arguably has less to lose. A Democratic-majority House could impeach him for the third time, but the Senate would be highly unlikely to convict. Whenever and however Trump leaves the White House, his landing will probably be softened by his soaring personal wealth – his income last year was $2.2bn.With a president embroiled in a costly war, and seemingly ambivalent about how it affects his colleagues, could the midterms be a disaster? Maybe. Would Trump get over that? Probably.