Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said she would advise President Trump to bring the war with Iran to an end, arguing that economic pressure on Tehran is beginning to produce results, according to remarks she made Monday on NewsNation.
Appearing on “NewsNation Now” with host Connell McShane, Capito said the administration had framed the conflict as short-term, and that the duration has become a source of frustration for voters — particularly as gas prices climb.
“The president said it would be short-term. The American people expected that,” Capito said. “I think that’s been a bit of a disappointment to the American people that we aren’t at the end, especially when they see gas prices going up.”
Asked directly whether she would tell the president to end the war now, Capito answered: “Yes, I would. And that’s what our candidates are doing. I think that would be a logical conclusion.”
McShane pressed her on the point, asking whether she believed he should end the conflict immediately. Capito said she thought he should “bring it to a close,” adding that recent developments around the Strait of Hormuz have moved things in a more favorable direction.
“Now that the straits are open, I think that’s moved in the right direction,” she said. “You can see the economic pressure that we’ve been putting on them and on their economy is starting to have the desired effect.”
When McShane followed up to ask whether she genuinely believed the strait was open, Capito pointed to reporting from earlier in the day.
Capito Cites Iranian Moves on the Strait
“I think the news today said that they are more open than they had been,” she said. “And that’s at the behest of Iran.”
Her comments land at a moment when the administration’s Iran policy is drawing scrutiny from within its own party. Capito’s framing — that candidates in her party are already making this argument on the trail — suggests the war’s tempo has become a midterm messaging concern for Republicans, not just a debate inside the White House.
The senator tied her position to two pressure points that voters feel directly: the length of the engagement and the cost at the pump. By describing an end to the war as a “logical conclusion,” she staked out a position that leaves room for the administration to claim progress even as she calls for wrapping things up.
She did not say whether she had communicated that view directly to the president, or whether she had received any indication of how the White House intends to proceed.
Her remarks also reflect a broader argument about how the war could end: not through a decisive military outcome, but through economic squeeze that forces Tehran to adjust its behavior. Capito pointed to the strait as a measurable sign that the approach is having an effect, while acknowledging that conditions on the water remain short of fully normal.
That distinction — “more open than they had been” — is likely to matter in the coming days, as lawmakers and voters look for concrete markers of whether the strategy is working. Capito stopped short of declaring victory, describing the movement instead as evidence the pressure campaign is moving “in the right direction.”
For Republicans facing voters, the politics are delicate. A base that broadly supports a hard line on Iran may be receptive to pressure tactics, but rising gas prices and an open-ended timeline are harder to defend on the stump. Capito’s answer effectively splits the difference: endorse the pressure, but call for a finish.
Whether that position becomes the party’s dominant one — or remains a lone senator’s preference — may depend on what happens next with the strait and with prices at home.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/09/28/gop-sen-capito-i-would-tell-trump-end-the-war-now/