Publicly, Donald Trump has promised a quick and resolute end to the war with Iran—but talk of the conflict is entirely different inside his inner circle.The president has told his aides to prepare for an “extended” blockade of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz as negotiations with Tehran drag on, according to U.S. officials that spoke with The Wall Street Journal Tuesday.That language has permeated recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, reported the Journal. Officials said that Trump assessed his other options—which include reinstigating violence or walking away from the conflict altogether—and decided that continuing to squeeze the country’s economy was the best choice.His decision has been reflected in his recent social media posts, emphasizing the White House’s intent to prolong the war unless Iran signs away its nuclear program.“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!” Trump wrote on Truth Social in the early hours of Wednesday morning, sharing an AI-generated image of himself wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses with a semiautomatic gun in his hands as a landscape, presumed to be Iran, explodes in the background.In another post attacking German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump claimed that he was “doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago.”Trump reportedly intends to amp up pressure on Iran until its leadership caves to his key demand: ending its nuclear capabilities. But the reality of Iran’s nuclear progress is still murky.Prior to the war—which never obtained congressional approval—Trump ordered strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites, hitting Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan on June 22. At the time, the Trump administration claimed that the one-off air raid had set Iran’s program back by “years.”Joe Kent, then director of the National Counterterrorism Center, sparked a maelstrom in Washington when he resigned over the issue last month. Kent argued in his resignation letter that he could not “in good conscience” support the war in Iran. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” he wrote at the time.In the eight weeks since the war began, the U.S. and Israel have killed thousands of Iranian civilians and obliterated Iranian civilian infrastructure. Thirteen U.S. soldiers have also died in the process.Meanwhile, the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused a global energy crisis, choking off a critical tradeway for the Middle Eastern oil trade. In the U.S., lagging oil and gas deliveries have caused transportation costs to surge, affecting virtually every commodity on the market. At the time of publication, the average cost for a gallon of gas was above $4.22, according to a AAA analysis. In some areas of California, such as San Francisco, Napa, and San Jose, gas was well above $6 per gallon.