Jonathan Lemire: “Trump is tired of the war, which has proved far more difficult and lasted far longer than he had expected. His party is warily watching rising gas prices and falling poll numbers. He doesn’t want to be bogged down in a Middle East conflict like some of his predecessors were. He doesn’t want it to upend his high-stakes summit next week in China. He is ready to move on.”

“But Iran, it seems, does not want the war to come to a close. Or at least not with any sort of outcome that could be acceptable to American negotiators. Trump is now in a bind. The president, five aides and outside advisers told me, is convinced that he can sell any sort of agreement as a win. But at least for now, the man who wrote The Art of the Deal can’t even get Iran to the negotiating table.”

“About 352,000 Russian soldiers had died in the war against Ukraine through the end of 2025, according to a new estimate, underscoring the high cost that President Vladimir V. Putin is willing to bear to pursue his battlefield aims,” the New York Times reports.

New York Times: “The crisis threatens one of Mr. Xi’s great feats: the transformation of the Chinese military into a formidable force with new aircraft carriers, hypersonic missiles and an expanding nuclear arsenal. And it comes as China’s rivalry with the United States has intensified, and as the Trump administration has put American firepower, and its limits, on vivid display in Venezuela and Iran.”

“China’s war readiness may be disrupted for years by the very cleanup that Mr. Xi has said is necessary to purify and strengthen the ranks. What once looked like a limited crackdown on corruption became a sweeping dismissal of dozens of top officers, and culminated in the downfall early this year of Zhang Youxia, China’s top uniformed commander, who had appeared to be a confidant of Mr. Xi’s.”

“I’ve settled eight wars and actually nine and now it looks like we could have 10.”

— President Trump, speaking to reporters.

“President Trump has changed his approach as he tries to end the war against Iran: reopen the Strait of Hormuz at all costs and leave thorny negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs until later,” Bloomberg reports. 

“That strategy has seen the ceasefire between the US and Iran tested as the two sides traded fire in recent days after Trump ordered US warships to provide cover for merchant vessels transiting the strait, and then abruptly shelved ‘Project Freedom’ on Tuesday. Iran also targeted oil facilities in the nearby United Arab Emirates.”