U.S. President Donald Trump is signaling his intention to continue the conflict with Iran, despite the fact that it is causing discontent among many Americans and complicating the situation for Republicans ahead of the congressional elections. This is stated in an article published in Politico.

Although Trump acknowledged in June that he was not sure whether Americans support the continuation of the war and its expansion, some of the president’s allies say that Tehran underestimates his willingness to take political risks, the publication notes. It cites the opinion of former U.S. special representative for Syria James Jeffrey, who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Turkey. In his view, Trump has “no choice” but to continue the conflict. “He offered a compromise. He will not back down, even if he loses the election,” Jeffrey added, referring to the possibility of weakening Republican positions following the midterm congressional elections in November.

The publication also cites the view of a source “close to the White House.” In the source’s opinion, because of the deaths of several American servicemembers last week, “pressure on Trump to deliver a tough response will increase.” “A good indication of what he intends to do is the huge request to Congress for defense needs [from the Washington administration]. He [Trump] wants to make sure that the U.S. has more than enough capability to conduct any operations in the future,” the source added.

At the same time, the article notes that the American leader’s allies “fear that the president is quickly running out of ways to pull the U.S. out of an unpopular and costly conflict before the midterm elections.” “This is exactly what a quagmire looks like,” one of the sources said. The article states that Republicans “are concerned about the economic impact of the war on ordinary Americans ahead of elections in which issues related to everyday expenses are expected to play a key role.”