DUBLIN — President Donald Trump told reporters Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, that the war with Iran will end “very soon” — “probably right after the midterms” — and that oil prices will “come tumbling down” when it does, while claiming Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis had called his administration and said they do not want a fight with the United States, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox News, and the Washington Examiner reported from his Ireland visit.

“I think very soon, I think it’ll be right after the midterms, actually,” Trump said when asked when the Iran war is likely to end, according to CNBC. Fox’s Dublin pool copy had a near-identical line: “I think very soon, I think it will be, probably, right after the midterms.” He added, per CNBC: “I would say shortly, and oil will come tumbling down when that happens.”

That is a wartime end-date tied to a domestic election calendar. November’s midterms fall on Nov. 3, 2026; Republicans are defending Congress while fuel costs and a multi-month Middle East fight weigh on the political map. Fox reported Trump also argued Tehran is trying to “hold out as long as they can to complicate the election,” adding that “people are wise to it because Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” Iran denies seeking a bomb and says its nuclear work is peaceful — claims Washington rejects.

Oil markets already priced in the fight. Brent crude settled Friday at about $104.61 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate at about $100.05, CNBC said, after a week of sharp gains even as both benchmarks pulled back from Thursday peaks near $108 and above $104. Trump’s tumble forecast is a bet that a post-midterms ceasefire — or at least a market-believed end — would unwind that war premium. Whether prices actually fall on his schedule is a market question, not a press-pool promise.

The same Dublin session also produced Trump’s claim of Houthi outreach. “The Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us,” he said, per CNBC. “They let us know, they don’t want to fight with us. They don’t want me to go after them.” The Washington Examiner quoted him: “We have had discussions. The Houthis called us, and they don’t want to fight with us… They don’t want us to go after them and would much prefer not having us involved.” Bloomberg placed the remarks in a Saturday meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

That outreach claim lands against a Red Sea map that has already moved. Houthi forces seized the Red Sea port of Mokha and, per multiple agency reports citing Yemeni government sources, advanced onto Perim (Mayyun) Island — a position that threatens the Bab el-Mandeb shipping choke point opposite the already-disrupted Strait of Hormuz. CNBC said it could not independently confirm the Perim report. Separately, outlets including MS NOW have reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally pressed Trump for U.S. help after the Houthi push; Trump said Saturday he had spoken with the crown prince.

Pipeline risk is context, not the lead. Saudi Arabia shut its East-West crude pipeline as a precaution after drones launched from Iraq struck the system Thursday; Trump separately said Iran was “probably” responsible — an attribution already covered on our desk. Iraqi authorities have opened investigations and dismissed provincial commanders tied to the launch area. Riyadh has said it is holding off retaliation for now to give Baghdad room to act.

Diplomacy is also on the calendar. Iranian state media and Gulf diplomats have pointed to Monday talks in Muscat, Oman, on Gulf-Iran shipping arrangements through Hormuz; CNBC cited reporting that officials may discuss an Iran-Oman shipping route. Any reopening framework still hinges on conditions Tehran and Washington have not publicly reconciled. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking in New Delhi ahead of the BRICS summit, said Iran “will not yield,” telling religious leaders: “Iran has successfully stood against Israel and the U.S.” and “we will not yield in front of bullying arrogance,” CNBC reported.

What is new from Dublin is not another pipeline attribution or island grab — those are already on the site. It is the president putting a midterms clock on the end of the war, promising cheaper oil afterward, and saying the Houthis called to beg off a direct U.S. fight while their forces sit on a second global choke point. Concentrated war power on an election timetable is the story. Watch whether the fighting actually stops after Nov. 3, whether oil tumbles with it, and whether Houthi “don’t want to fight” talk survives contact with Bab el-Mandeb reality.

Sources