Trump’s top general is ‘looking for an off-ramp’ from Iran war as US military options remain limited, sources say

Key Points:

• Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, has privately urged top Trump advisers to find an off-ramp from the war with Iran, warning that military escalation options risk backfiring and that airpower alone is unlikely to achieve President Trump's objectives.
• Caine has expressed concerns about the depleted U.S. munitions stockpile and the limitations of air strikes, cautioning that bombing Iran’s infrastructure could provoke retaliatory attacks on Gulf allies and fail to force Iranian capitulation.
• Despite these warnings, Caine has balanced his messaging by assuring President Trump that the U.S. military can inflict significant damage if escalation is ordered, while seeking to maintain a productive relationship with the president.
• The Pentagon and CENTCOM are reassessing military strategies amid concerns about resource shortages and the protracted nature of the conflict, with no current advocacy for deploying ground troops due to the high potential cost in American lives.
• The administration is focusing on finding a symbolic off-ramp that allows Trump to claim a win without closing off diplomatic options, such as reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as the war approaches its six-month mark.