Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade predicted on Tuesday, August 12, 2026, that a “kinetic war” between the United States and Iran will occur before Labor Day, which falls in early September. Kilmeade stated that President Trump is expected to apply economic pressure on Iran in the coming weeks but believes that ultimately, military force will be necessary. He said, “I think the misery index is up to 91 percent,” highlighting the economic strain.

Kilmeade added, “I think we end up in a kinetic war to finish this thing off before Labor Day because the Iranians need to understand who the superpower is.”

The ongoing conflict with Iran has negatively impacted Trump’s polling numbers and is a concern for Republicans aiming to maintain control of the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections. The war has also contributed to increased gas prices and higher costs for other products. According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. was about $4.04 on Thursday afternoon, up from approximately $3.14 at the same time last year.

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper commented on Monday that the Trump administration appeared to be on its “back foot” regarding strategy in the Iran conflict despite significant tactical damage inflicted on Iran. Esper said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill,” “Tactically, we have imposed a lot of pain on them through our U.S. military strikes against their air force, their navy, their militias, their ballistic missile forces — done a lot of tactical damage.”