In a press briefing at the White House, President Donald Trump indicated that the United States was maintaining a "status quo" with Iran while remaining "locked and loaded" should circumstances change. The president stated that Iran is militarily weakened and that there's positive momentum towards negotiations to resolve the Middle East conflict. Trump's comments follow a bruising set of midterm election results for the Republicans, which some senior figures have attributed to the Iran war. Last week, Trump had authorized "minor strikes" on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz. However, in a recent 60 Minutes interview, he expressed no current intention to escalate the conflict further. The president's remarks come after a meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, who reported positive discussions about ending the war. Efforts to broker peace between Washington and Tehran have largely been indirect through mediators since the war began in February. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are among the U.S.'s Gulf allies that have been affected by Iranian aggression over the course of the conflict. Post-election recriminations over the U.S. war in Iran have led to calls for impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but it is unlikely to succeed with Republicans still in control of Congress until January. Democrats, however, have expressed willingness to pursue impeachment once they have control of both the House and the Senate in the new session.