A top Trump adviser suggested the Iran war could drag on for years, and the economic pain from it is already hitting Americans hard.

• Mike Waltz declined to rule out the war continuing through the rest of Trump's term, into 2029, saying the "blockade" and maximum pressure on Iran's economy will stay in place until Iran gives up any path to a nuclear weapon.
• Waltz claimed "time is on our side," but gas prices are spiking in the US, hitting extreme highs in parts of California, and higher energy costs are feeding into inflation across the board.
• Iran's leadership sees the war as a fight for survival and can absorb economic pain better than the US, where voters are already frustrated over the cost of living.
• Trump won partly on promises to fix affordability, so a long, costly war cuts against his own political rationale and could become a liability heading into the midterms.

Outlook: Expect the war and its economic fallout to keep dragging on with no clear end in sight, and midterm elections will likely become a referendum on the pain it's causing Americans.