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By Meg Kinnard

March 11, 2026

Facing jittery global markets and drooping poll numbers since launching a war on Iran, President Donald Trump has cycled from calls for “unconditional surrender” to sounding amenable to an end state in which Iran trades one hard-line ayatollah for another — shifting comments that are adding to the precariousness of the 12-day-old conflict.

Plus, Trump's midterms prescription, polling on Iran and weekly picks from AP's Washington bureau chief.

The Headline

President Donald Trump speaks at the Republican Members Issues Conference, Monday, March 9, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump keeps telling America he’s winning in Iran. He’s less clear in explaining how the war ends — By Aamer Madhani

Since ordering the Iran bombardment, Trump has continually shifted his timelines and goals for his war against Iran, a crosscurrent of rhetoric that has delivered more questions than answers.

Over the last few days, Trump has called for the “unconditional surrender” of Iran’s leaders, while suggesting he’s already succeeded in achieving his objective of decimating Iran’s military.

At the same time, Trump’s team has sought to soothe anxious Americans that this won’t be a long, drawn-out conflict, even as the president has insisted he hasn’t ruled out the option of putting U.S. boots on the ground.

One of several reasons Trump has offered to justify launching the war is that he had a “feeling” that Iran was getting set to attack the United States. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slightly amended that position on Tuesday, telling reporters that the president “had a feeling” that was “based on fact.”

But Pentagon officials in private briefings have told congressional staffers that the U.S. does not have intelligence indicating that Iran was planning to preemptively attack the U.S.

Dive deeper ➤

Marcus Hopkins, a street performer, does a backflip in front of advertised gas prices Monday, March 9, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In a time of war with Iran, Americans unite in aggravation over sticker shock at the gas pump — By Hannah Fingerhut, Mike Householder, Michael Schneider, Michael Catalini and Bill Barrow

— This story was a collaboration across the U.S. as several reporters went out to talk to Americans about the rising gas prices. Though they did not agree on who and what were to blame for the rise in prices, most of the people the AP talked to were united in feeling aggravated over the sticker shock. Watch the video, too!

White House war promo videos marry action movies, sports and video games to real-life combat footage — By David Bauder and Lou Kesten

— David Bauder and Lou Kesten explore the White House's social media feed, which has posted a series of videos that mix real footage from the Iran war with movie action heroes, video game footage and sports moments including baseball home runs.

Sharing a stage, Justices Jackson and Kavanaugh spar over Supreme Court orders favoring Trump — By Mark Sherman — Supreme Court reporter Mark Sherman takes readers inside a federal courtroom packed with legal luminaries during an annual lecture in Washington. Among those in attendance were Supreme Court Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Brett Kavanaugh, who sparred over the many emergency orders the court has issued over the past year.

From the field: Recap from Steven Sloan on House GOP meeting

President Donald Trump gestures as Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., applaud at the Republican Members Issues Conference, Monday, March 9, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

AP Washington correspondent STEVEN SLOAN has spent this week at Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida, where dozens of House Republicans have gathered for an annual “ideas conference.”

Here’s what Sloan thinks you should know:

The week kicked off with a speech from Trump that left many Republicans in the room feeling energized.
After Trump returned to Washington on Monday night, lawmakers stayed behind to huddle in private policy sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
That’s when the challenges facing the party became clear. The president is pushing for Republicans to pass a strict national voter identification law, but many Republicans here were more focused on issues surrounding affordability that they think might be appealing to voters.
Expect this tension to repeat constantly in the months ahead as the White House and congressional Republicans sometimes have competing visions of what voters are seeking this election year.

The latest polling on Iran

What Americans think about the war in Iran, according to recent polls — By Linley Sanders

Americans are divided along party lines on U.S. military action against Iran, according to polls conducted since the war began, with most polls showing opposition is higher than support.

Polls suggest that many Americans are worried the military action is making the U.S. “less safe,” even as they see Iran as a threat to U.S. security. There are also warning signs for Trump as he confronts the possibility of a prolonged conflict that could come with significant economic turmoil.

Trump gave conflicting messages on Monday about the war’s timeline, suggesting it could be near its end while also threatening additional force against Iran if the country disrupted the global flow of oil.

Fluctuating oil prices may already be alarming voters. Polls conducted over the weekend found a large majority of Americans are worried about the war causing oil and gasoline prices to rise. The vast majority expect the U.S. action against Iran will last at least “months,” if not longer.