The White House has signaled that it intends to hold a ceasefire agreement with Iran as long as no American troops are killed. United States ruler Donald Trump made the comment on his social media platform, Truth Social, while simultaneously blasting the four Republicans who voted the night prior to limit war powers as “GRANDSTANDERS” and “unpatriotic”.

The vote, however, was largely symbolic, with most mainstream media outlets reporting that it has no real teeth to hold Trump back from using military force in Iran.

A bigger issue for the US is that Iran continues to claim that no negotiations are even taking place. The House war resolution vote occurred after a big flare-up this week in new tit-for-tat fighting, which involved Iran sending more missiles and drones at Gulf states, especially Kuwait. The reference by Trump to “final negotiations” was possibly a ploy, and enough of one to get oil prices to react, with a drop in crude.

ZeroHedge reported that Trump’s new strategy appears to be nothing more than waiting things out.

President Trump has told aides privately that he would consider ending the ceasefire with Iran if Tehran kills American troops, U.S. officials said, insisting that the weekslong pause in airstrikes remains intact despite a steady stream of violent skirmishes.

The president’s reluctance to reignite the war suggests he might be willing to withstand smaller flare-ups for weeks—or even months—to avoid a broader conflict in the Middle East. –ZeroHedge

Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the tit-for-tat attacks as purely defensive in nature and not a renewed outbreak of full-scale war.  “They are happening in response to an Iranian action,” Rubio said in a House hearing Wednesday. “If they don’t shoot at those ships, we don’t shoot, but we have to respond.”

It is interesting that the US continues to call this battle “self-defense,” when it started the whole thing by attacking an Iranian-flagged tanker.

Iran Attacked US Military Assets After the US Struck An Iranian Tanker

Trump also apparently believes a ceasefire with Iran means that the US is just shooting in a more moderate manner.

With rhetoric like this, we wouldn’t expect an end to this war anytime soon, and a reduction in gasoline prices would be highly optimistic at this point.