Trump 'actively considering' US role in Iran after war as Senate votes down resolution to halt conflict

LAST UPDATE | 20 hrs ago

DONALD TRUMP IS “actively considering” what role the United States could play in Iran after the American-Israeli war against the country concludes, according to the White House. 

It comes as the conflict expanded on its fifth day, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka and fresh blasts across the Middle East.

Sri Lanka’s navy recovered 87 bodies of sailors from the Iranian warship today. Some 32 sailors were rescued and taken to hospital for treatment, while 61 remain missing. 

Amid the escalating war, the US President has yet to spell out his plan for what happens after the conflict concludes, or to say whether he wants a wholesale change in Iran’s government, or to work with remnants who would deal with Washington.

Trump and members of his administration have also contradicted each other since Saturday on whether the intention of the war was regime change.

“I think it’s something the president is actively considering and discussing with his advisors and his national security team,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters when asked about a future US role in Iran. 

“Do we want to see Iran being led by a rogue terrorist regime? Of course yet.”

This evening, Trump said the US was “doing well on the war front, to put it mildly”. 

“Somebody said on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15,” he told a gathering of tech bosses at the White House.

Advertisement

US in ‘very strong position’

“We’re in a very strong position now, and their leadership is just rapidly going. Everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead.”

Trump added that Tehran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles was being “wiped out rapidly.”

He repeated his justifications for attacking Iran, saying Tehran was on its way to obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen,” Trump added.

The US leader pledged that he would “continue forward” with the joint air campaign with Israel that has already slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei on its opening day on Saturday.

Trump’s administration has faced criticism after days of mixed messages about the rationale for the war, given the Republican’s previous campaign boasts about starting “no new wars.”

Leavitt said that Iran’s clerical government was being “absolutely crushed” and was “paying in blood” – but declined to confirm Trump wanted regime change in Tehran.

She also rejected as “false” reports that Trump had agreed to arm Kurdish separatist militia in Iran so that they could rise up against the government.

But she confirmed that Trump had spoken to Kurdish leaders. The Wall Street Journal reported Trump was considering supporting Kurdish groups.

Leavitt also said the US and Israel expected to “complete and total dominance” over Iranian airspace in the “coming hours”, echoing comments made earlier by the Pentagon.

Senate fails to pass war powers resolution

Tonight, the US Senate rejected a resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s authority to continue military strikes on Iran. 

The bipartisan measure, introduced by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Rand Paul, would have required the withdrawal of US forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress authorises the campaign.

Related Reads

UK-US Special Relationship: Starmer may be no Churchill, but Trump is no Roosevelt

87 bodies recovered as US confirms it sank an Iranian vessel in Indian Ocean

The Pentagon still can't say who was responsible for the deadly bombing of an Iranian girls' school

But with Republicans holding a 53–47 majority in the upper chamber of Congress and largely backing the president’s decision to attack Iran alongside Israel, the resolution fell short by exactly that margin.

For the resolution to pass, Democrats would have needed at least four Republicans to join Paul. One Democrat, Pennsylvania centrist John Fetterman, opposed the resolution.

Even if the measure had cleared the Senate and the House – where a vote on a similar resolution is expected tomorrow – Trump would have been able to veto it.

Congress would have needed an almost certainly unattainable two-thirds majority in both chambers to override the president.

Administration officials told lawmakers in classified briefings this week that the operation could last weeks and may require additional funding from Congress.

Lawmakers from both parties say the Pentagon could soon seek emergency funds to replenish weapons stockpiles and sustain the operation.

The war powers resolution invoked the 1973 War Powers Act, passed after the Vietnam War, which allows Congress to force votes on military engagements and limits unauthorized conflicts to 60 days.

Democrats had acknowledged the measure faced steep odds but said forcing lawmakers to take a public position on the war was essential.

 © AFP 2026