WATCH: When asked what the US should do to end the war with Iran, Trump says: ‘More of the same’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing jittery global markets and declining poll numbers since launching war with Iran, President Donald Trump has moved from calls for “unconditional surrender” to appearing amenable to an end state in which Iran replaces one hardline Ayatollah with another.

The shifting comments from the Republican president and his top aides add to the seriousness of the 12-day conflict, which is affecting nearly every corner of the Middle East and causing economic shocks around the world. With neither side budging, the war is now on an unpredictable path, and a credible endgame is unclear.

He watches: Trump: The war with Iran will end “soon,” but “important targets” will remain if necessary

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that it was up to Trump “whether it’s the beginning, the middle, or the end of the war.” During a speech to a House GOP caucus on Monday, Trump went from describing the war as a “short-term trip” that could end soon to declaring that “we didn’t win enough.”

“We hit them harder than any country in history, and we’re not done yet,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

Read more: The Iranian Foreign Minister says that negotiations with the United States may not be on the table

This hesitation has drawn criticism from those who say Trump lacks a clear goal. “They didn’t have a plan,” Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, told reporters. “They don’t have a timetable. Because of that, they don’t have an exit strategy.”

The ever-changing goal line

Since ordering the bombing of Iran, Trump has continually changed his timelines and goals for the war.

Over the past few days, Trump has called for the “unconditional surrender” of Iran’s leaders, while indicating that he has already succeeded in achieving his goal of eliminating the Iranian army.

He watches: As Iran shows no signs of surrendering, the US is launching “more intense” strikes today

At the same time, Trump’s team sought to calm Americans worried that the war would not be long and drawn out, even as the president insisted that he had not ruled out the option of using US ground forces.

The US military says it has effectively destroyed Iran’s navy and has made significant strides in limiting Iran’s ability to fire missiles and drones at its neighbors. Yet the crucial Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20% of the world’s oil passes on a typical day, remains essentially closed to business, and Iranian leaders are not bending.

The Revolutionary Guards said Iran would not allow “a single liter of oil” through the vital waterway until the United States stops its bombing campaign. Ali Larijani, Iran’s top national security official, issued a threatening message on Tuesday after Trump threatened to attack Iran “20 times harder” if Tehran stops the flow of oil through the strait.

“The sacrificial Iranian nation is not afraid of your empty threats,” Larijani wrote on X. “Even those greater than you could not eliminate Iran. Be careful not to eliminate yourself.”

Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally and former Republican Speaker of the House, said the administration should have acted on securing the strait on the first day of the conflict.

“If they cannot keep the Strait open, this war will actually be an American defeat before very long, because the whole world, including the American people, will react with oil prices if the Strait remains closed for a very long time,” Gingrich said in an interview on Fox Business.

Make the case for Americans

Trump is striving to make his case to Americans on why preemptive action against Iran is necessary and how it aligns with his pledge to keep the United States out of the “forever wars” of the past two decades. So far, seven American soldiers have been killed and about 140 others wounded in retaliatory attacks launched by Iran.

One of the many reasons Trump offered to justify waging war was that he had a “feeling” that Iran was preparing to attack the United States.

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt modified that position slightly, telling reporters that the president “had a feeling” that he was “based on the truth.”

But Pentagon officials told congressional staff in private briefings that the United States had no intelligence indicating that Iran was planning to preemptively attack the United States.

Read more: A new poll shows that a majority of Americans oppose military action in Iran

Recent polls show that Trump’s decision to attack Iran did not come with the rally-around-the-flag effect that has typically accompanied the start of recent American wars.

About half of voters in the Quinnipiac and Fox News polls said U.S. military action in Iran makes the United States “less safe,” while about 3 in 10 in each poll said it made the country safer. A CNN poll found that about half of American adults believe military action would make Iran a “more threat” to the United States, while only about 3 in 10 believe it would reduce the risk.

In the CNN poll, about 6 in 10 American adults said they trusted Trump “not very much” or “not at all” to make the right decisions about US use of force in Iran.

European allies are moving cautiously after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faced the wrath of Trump, who deemed them not supportive enough in supporting his war of choice.

He watches: The United States appears to be “on its way” to deploying ground forces in Iran, Blumenthal says after a classified briefing

On Wednesday, Trump again criticized Spain, which said it would not allow the United States to use the joint bases in southern Spain for any strikes not covered by the UN Charter.

“I think they were very bad, not good at all,” Trump said. “We may cut off trade with Spain.”

Even German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has been a broad supporter of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, said on Tuesday that “more questions arise with every day of the war.”

Evade responsibility for bombing schools

Trump chose to disavow responsibility for the bombing of a girls’ school in southern Iran on the first day of the conflict, killing at least 165 people.

Trump on Saturday blamed the attack on Iran, saying its security forces were “very inaccurate” with munitions.

On Monday, after the investigative group Bellingcat released verified video showing a US Tomahawk cruise missile hitting a Revolutionary Guard facility near the school, causing the explosion, Trump again insisted it was probably Iran’s fault, but said he would accept anything the US investigation into the matter might find.

He watches: Trump evades responsibility for the deadly attack on the Iranian girls’ school

The president wrongly claimed that Tehran had access to Tomahawk missiles, an American-made weapons system available only to the United States and a few close allies.

In response to a reporter’s question, Levitt did not directly answer why Trump falsely asserted that Iran had access to the American-made missile.

Instead, she responded in part that “the President has the right to share his views with the American public” while noting that “he said he would accept the outcome of this investigation.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters that Trump’s claim was “beyond foolish.”

“Once again, he says whatever comes to mind regardless of the truth,” Schumer said. “We all know he’s lying, but for something as massive as this, it’s horrific.”

Read more: Validating Trump’s claim that Iran possesses Tomahawk missiles

Sen. Kevin Cramer, among Trump’s allies, was gently explaining that it was important for the administration to explain what happened to the school.

Kramer said the Army must “do everything in its power to eliminate these mistakes in the future.”

“But you also can’t undo that,” he added.

Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Joey Cappelletti, Ben Finley and Lynley Sanders contributed to this report.