{"id":915,"date":"2026-07-06T16:24:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=915"},"modified":"2026-07-06T16:24:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:24:31","slug":"no-one-wants-to-talk-about-iran-white-house-hopes-to-pivot-back-to-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=915","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No one wants to talk about Iran\u2019: White House hopes to pivot back to economy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/f9\/12\/d9acaaab4c1692b0904b21808a5e\/trump-7-943.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Inside the White House, the plan is to move on from the war in Iran and focus on the domestic issues that polls show matter most to voters. It\u2019s proving hard to do.<\/p>\n<p>The Iranians and the administration are offering conflicting accounts of what has been agreed to in the latest peace deal, undermining the effort to sell the proposed agreement as an American victory. Israeli troops on Tuesday fatally shot two people in Lebanon, threatening the fragile ceasefire. Conservative criticism of the deal abounds in the Wall Street Journal, on Fox News and throughout social media.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s left President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in a precarious position \u2014 trying to reframe the conversation while batting down their critics, especially hawks on the right who accuse the administration of capitulation.<\/p>\n<p>The tension was on display Tuesday with Trump in Reading, Pennsylvania to tout his economic accomplishments. Just after arriving, he told reporters he was ready to cancel further negotiations if Iran refused to let international inspectors into the country, the latest in a series of threats to upend the 60-day talks and resume hostilities.<\/p>\n<p>Then, during his speech at a Mack Truck facility, he touted the number of factories being built in the United States, the shrinking trade deficit, foreign investments and tax cuts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur economy is ready to soar to levels the world has not seen before,\u201d Trump told the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>It was a campaign-style speech replete with praise for Reps. Dan Meuser and Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) and criticism of Democrats for voting against Trump\u2019s tax cuts and his funding for the border wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe got to win the midterms,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>Iran came up only briefly and in context of the economy not taking as big a hit as some feared.<\/p>\n<p>The president\u2019s allies say the less spoken about Iran, the better.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you&#8217;re a Republican, yeah, for God&#8217;s sakes, no one wants to talk about Iran,\u201d said Matthew Bartlett, a GOP strategist who worked for Trump\u2019s State Department during the first term. \u201cThis is not a time of celebration and ticker-tape parades.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A senior White House official, who, like others in this story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the administration&#8217;s efforts, said the plan is to redouble efforts to sell the president\u2019s economic achievements amid ongoing concern about inflation, which last month reached its highest point since 2023.<\/p>\n<p>There will be more domestic trips in the coming weeks to discuss the economy and a big patriotic message tied to the semiquincentennial next month, the official said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s planned address on the National Mall Wednesday evening will be a rally-style speech touting his accomplishments. There are also plans to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Big Beautiful Bill, which Trump signed last July 4, \u201cto remind the public that President Trump delivered on his promise to cut taxes &#8211; and Democrats opposed it every step of the way,&#8221; the official said. <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the best course of action, said a person close to the White House, who added there\u2019s no debate inside the White House that the Iran deal is a tough sell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, who&#8217;s going to love the deal?\u201d the person asked. \u201cThe point is we&#8217;re not getting a good deal, because guess what, it didn&#8217;t work. In other words, our gamble didn&#8217;t work. We decapitated the regime, and we thought that that would mean regime change, and it didn&#8217;t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The path forward, the person said, should be to focus on the prices that are coming down. After peaking at $4.56 per gallon in early May, gasoline prices <a href=\"https:\/\/gasprices.aaa.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u>are down 60 cents a gallon<\/u><\/a> in the last month.<\/p>\n<p>Trump emphasized that point on Tuesday, again touting the stock market highs and the rapid decline in oil prices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;re getting out and prices are going back down,\u201d the person close to the White House said. \u201cThat&#8217;s how you sell it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, that effort to move on faces enormous challenges \u2014 not least from Trump himself, who is not known for message discipline.<\/p>\n<p>Trump again on Tuesday suggested that Iran would use some of its unfrozen assets to purchase American agricultural products, a point the Iranians have denied.<\/p>\n<p>Before speaking at the truck factory in Pennsylvania, Trump took aim at Republicans criticizing the deal.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Well I think anybody that&#8217;s been critical of it has to be educated, even if they&#8217;re friends of mine,\u201d he told reporters before speaking. \u201cBecause we have Iran in a position that nobody&#8217;s ever had.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The memorandum of understanding struck over the weekend intended to create a path to peace is facing attacks from a host of otherwise loyal Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of Americans don\u2019t like the deal and they are free to express their opinions,\u201d MAGA influencer Laura Loomer said<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LauraLoomer\/status\/2069020010518093865?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"><u>on X<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>It puts Vance, the face of negotiations and a leading contender to succeed Trump, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/vance-iran-negotiations-gamble-00967956\" target=\"_blank\"><u>in a delicate spot<\/u><\/a>, particularly if the deal goes south.<\/p>\n<p>But, if it works the way Vance allies hope, he can position himself as the Trump-fixer who helped end a war he was never all that keen on fighting. That could prove politically invaluable for anyone trying to keep those frustrated with Trump\u2019s foreign adventurism in the fold.<\/p>\n<p>Vance, according to a second person close to the White House, has always been \u201cseen as the guy whose main focus has always been the conclusion of the conflict, and he&#8217;s always kept his finger on the pulse of the right flank of the party that ultimately has lost trust in the president on this particular, so by making him the face of the so-called end of the war, you are bringing a level of credibility to say, guys, you know what I&#8217;ve always been in wanting this war to end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vance has been aided by a swarm of MAGA faithful, insinuating that opposition to the deal is a coordinated hit, not representative of genuine angst.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is rather obvious that there&#8217;s like a paid campaign to try to psyop people into believing that the deal is unpopular,\u201d a third person close to the White House said. \u201cThe actual psyop that they&#8217;re running is to try to convince like JD that this is hurting him politically when reality actually shows the opposite.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Donald Trump Jr. called it a \u201ccoordinated op\u201d to push \u201clies and propaganda\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DonaldJTrumpJr\/status\/2069027368698601901?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"><u>on X<\/u><\/a>. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.)<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepLuna\/status\/2068834858734887081?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"><u>said<\/u><\/a> \u201ccoordinated influencer op against @VP vance and the peace talks is ridiculous and sociopathic\u201d and former White House chief of staff Taylor Budowich<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Budowich\/status\/2068720030271840653?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"><u>said<\/u><\/a> opinion writer Marc Thiessen was \u201cwrong\u201d for claiming those against the deal supported Trump\u2019s initial military action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe administration isn&#8217;t targeting any of these people, we&#8217;re just pointing out that they&#8217;re idiots,\u201d said a fourth person close to the White House.<\/p>\n<p>Thus far, the effort hasn\u2019t quelled the critics, which a fifth person familiar with the White House&#8217;s thinking on Iran suggested would be nearly impossible to do because the memorandum of understanding is only the start. It will be at least 60 days before even the White House knows what it\u2019s really selling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are doing the best they can with a really horrible hand,\u201d the person said. \u201cYou\u2019re selling an iterative process, which is never easy, and then secondly, you have an untrustworthy partner, so you know people are rightly trained and conditioned not to believe anything that Iran says.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><i>Diana Nerozzi contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside the White House, the plan is to move on from the war in Iran and focus on the domestic issues that polls show matter most to voters. It\u2019s proving hard to do. The Iranians and the administration are offering conflicting accounts of what has been agreed to in the latest peace deal, undermining the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/f9\/12\/d9acaaab4c1692b0904b21808a5e\/trump-7-943.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}