\n<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON — <\/span>To reach a deal with Iran that reopens the economically vital Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, President Donald Trump may need to do something out of character \u2014 compromise.<\/p>\n Any concession would be tough for the Republican president, who has insisted there is no truth to his sagging poll numbers<\/a>, the sluggish economy<\/a> and the U.S. military\u2019s dwindling stockpiles of key weapons<\/a> following the Iran war he launched with Israel more than five months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cHe divides the world into winners and losers, and this would make him a loser,\u201d said Eliot Cohen, who served as counselor of the State Department in the George W. Bush administration. \u201cAnd the image of being a loser, I think, would be intolerable for him.\u201d <\/p>\n The sticking point has been over control of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows. While both sides say a deal is close<\/a>, the Trump administration has ruled out any arrangement<\/a> that would cement Iran\u2019s grip over the Persian Gulf waterway, including Tehran charging fees.<\/p>\n But Iran has insisted on some measure of control, saying the strait will not go back to being an open international waterway as it was before the war. Despite thousands of U.S. strikes<\/a>, Iran can still fire drones and missiles at vessels, giving it a chokehold over commercial shipping. <\/p>\n Cohen said yielding ground to Iran would be difficult for the president, even if the conflict keeps gasoline prices elevated<\/a> and poses problems for Republicans in November\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n But David Schenker, a former State Department official in the first Trump administration, said the increasing economic pressure may actually prompt Trump to compromise on the strait, even if it’s likely to have profound implications on global trade. <\/p>\n \u201cThere will be a lot of spin both ways, but my guess is that the president has tipped his hand as to the urgency for him of resolving the crisis,\u201d said Schenker, now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. \u201cThis is a concession he may very well be willing to make.\u201d <\/p>\n Trump, however, has so far conceded little about the war. <\/p>\n He posted on social media Thursday that the U.S. military still has \u201cmassive amounts\u201d of weapons and that large amounts are being manufactured. He threatened jail time for the alleged \u201cleakers\u201d of information on the nation’s weapons stockpiles. <\/p>\n Trump was referencing a Washington Post story that reported his frustration with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the shrinking inventories of advanced weapons,<\/a> as the Cabinet had gathered at Camp David last week. <\/p>\n A senior administration official said there had been a \u201crobust and healthy\u201d discussion about Iran in the Cabinet meeting and would not provide additional details except to say there had not been a “knock-down, drag-out fight\u201d over the matter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations.<\/p>\n Experts say the U.S. military is running short on weapons like advanced missile interceptors<\/a> that have defended American troops from Iranian attacks. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, has released reports on declining inventories based on budget documents and other public information.<\/p>\n When asked later about weapons stockpiles, Trump told reporters that \u201cwe need more all the time.\u201d He claimed that certain kinds of munitions are in \u201cvirtually unlimited supply\u201d and others are \u201ca little bit tighter.\u201d He didn’t offer more specifics.<\/p>\n He insisted that \u201cwe\u2019re in great shape. But, with that being said, we always want more. We have to have more,\u201d noting that the military could tap into U.S. supplies of munitions around the world if needed.<\/p>\n Hegseth was on Capitol Hill this week, meeting privately with Republican senators as he makes the case for billions of dollars in additional Pentagon spending as part of a major GOP budget package<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and former Navy pilot, said the weapons shortfall stems from a war that lacked a well-defined goal and strategy beyond striking more than 14,000 targets. <\/p>\n \u201cMy contention on this is, if you knew what the goal is, maybe the target list would have been 500 targets. Maybe it would have been 200 targets,” Kelly said, adding the Pentagon wants “billions and billions of dollars to fix their self-inflicted problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also has claimed in a social media post Tuesday that his polling numbers are the best \u201cthey have ever been.\u201d He cited accomplishments including employment numbers and the \u201cDenuclearization of Iran.\u201d <\/p>\n But about two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran has not been worthwhile, according to a poll<\/a> from late July by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents, as well as about 37% of Republicans.<\/p>\n On employment, the United States had nearly 159 million jobs<\/a> in June, not including farmworkers, which was a record. In Trump\u2019s second term, however, job growth has slowed considerably.<\/p>\n