How Trump could stop losing in Iran
Key takeaways
- President Donald Trump attend a meeting on the sidelines of their visit to the Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, China, Friday, May 15, 2026.
- The question facing the U.S. today is no longer how to win this war, but how to stop the bleeding and regain some ground — just possibly enlisting China and others in fashioning a few wins.
- The first is to build a truly international coalition to reopen the Strait.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
President Donald Trump attend a meeting on the sidelines of their visit to the Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, China, Friday, May 15, 2026. (Evan Vucci/Pool Photo via AP) The Trump-Xi summit concluded with vague promises for China to help. But as of now, the U.S. is losing the war with Iran. Thirty-seven days of intense airstrikes have only made the Iranian regime more hardline and the Strait of Hormuz — open and stable before the campaign began — is now under its control.
The question facing the U.S. today is no longer how to win this war, but how to stop the bleeding and regain some ground — just possibly enlisting China and others in fashioning a few wins.
The first is to build a truly international coalition to reopen the Strait. Until the world s most important energy chokepoint is reliably open, the global economy will continue to absorb the war s worst shocks, and Iran will continue to dictate the terms of any negotiation. Europe and Asia depend on Gulf energy far more than America, now a major net exporter. Gulf gas is the principal alternative to renewed European dependence on Russia. Our European partners have minesweeping, escort and surveillance capability which they should have every reason to deploy alongside ours.