Bloomberg Surveillance · Monday, September 28, 2026
Henrietta Trace notes that the Republican Party is experiencing internal fractures due to the war and energy policies, with some incumbents calling for an end to the conflict. This is forcing a difficult choice for the president regarding escalation versus capitulation on issues like the Strait of Hormuz.
“Well, the call is really, does the president capitulate and result in Iranian regulatory power over the strait, which we just discussed is not tenable? Or does it lead the president to escalate the war? My expectation throughout since the first MOU has been that we need more military escalation because I'm obviously not smart enough to find a third alternative.”
“And the pain points that the Republicans are telling the president are very, very real. It's not real enough for them to vote against it in the United States Senate. Obviously, Democrats are in a position as the minority party in a privileged motion to bring a war powers vote up. for the umpteenth time. And you did not lose a number of Republicans who have come out in opposition to the war. They did not vote against the president. That's for obvious political reasons. You don't wanna vote against the president during wartime. That's a very bad look. So the party is going to stay together. And I think most Obviously, or most openly, that's true of the senators who are not going to run against. Senators Cassidy, Senators Cornyn, they're gonna stick with their man. That makes sense from a presidential perspective, from a United States Senate perspective. But as we go forward, the president is gonna face some tough choices. He's got two more years of this. I know it's insane, but you got a position for 2028. This war needs to be wrapped up. God knows where diesel prices would be by then. Hopefully, we'll have a solution where the hormones is totally irrelevant to the conversation, but that's a 2030 story.”