As the conflict enters its third month, Washington remains short of clear strategic gains and the key metrics of success as described by the president remain at best elusive, writes Foreign Editor David Pratt

AS so often happens with Donald Trump, we heard it first from him on social media. “Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a non-nuclear deal. They better get smart soon! President DJT,” he warned in his post, alongside an AI-generated meme of himself holding a gun and the tagline: “NO MORE MR NICE GUY.”

Trump’s social media message came last Thursday, just a day before he informed Congress that a key May 1 deadline his administration faces to secure congressional approval for the US-Israel war on Iran no longer matters because of the ongoing ceasefire with Tehran.

By law, under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, a US president must receive Congress’s approval within 60 days of notifying politicians of military action or else cease hostilities.

The law, while designed to ensure congressional oversight of military action, is one that, over decades, has been repeatedly challenged, reinterpreted, and at times bypassed by successive administrations

In the case of the war on Iran, that 60-day deadline expired on Friday and Trump, along with US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, have both challenged the law, arguing that the ongoing yet fragile ceasefire had effectively paused the clock on the deadline. “There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have been terminated,” Trump wrote in a letter to congressional leaders.

Needless to say, Trump’s interpretation of the law has not gone down well with Democrats who argue that the law doesn’t allow for such a stop, noting that American forces remain deployed.

“That’s bull***t,” Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, posted in response to the news. “This is an illegal war and every day Republicans remain complicit and allow it to continue is another day lives are endangered, chaos erupts, and prices increase, all while Americans foot the bill.”

Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking member of the Senate armed services committee, agreed.

“President Trump declaring the war with Iran ‘terminated’ doesn’t reflect the reality that tens of thousands of US service members in the region are still in harm’s way, that the Administration continually threatens to escalate hostilities, or that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and prices are skyrocketing at home,” Shaheen wrote.

“President Trump entered this war without a strategy and without legal authorisation and today’s announcement doesn’t change either fact.”

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, center left, meets with Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, center right, and Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, third left, upon his arrival at Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Friday, April 24 (Image: AP)

BUT it’s not just Democrats who are angry and bringing pressure to bear.

Some Republican politicians having already broken ranks and are challenging the president’s authority to keep waging his increasingly unpopular conflict. John Curtis, a first-term........

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