U.S. President Donald Trump has told associates in recent days that he wants to avoid a drawn-out military confrontation with Iran, and has urged his advisers to pursue a short timeline for concluding the conflict. Privately he has characterized the fighting as entering its final stages and has pressed for operations and diplomacy to wrap up on a roughly four-to-six week schedule.
That internal timeline has factored into White House planning for a mid-May summit with China, according to people close to discussions. The meeting is being arranged with the expectation that the period of heightened hostilities will be limited to that four-to-six week window.
The request for a narrow endgame comes as the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran moves into its fourth consecutive week and shows little sign of easing. Tehran has been largely resistant to calls for an immediate ceasefire. Instead, Iran has indicated it will not directly negotiate with the United States and said it is reviewing a 15-point peace plan presented by Washington.
At the same time, Iran has put forward its own five-point proposal. That plan includes demands for reparations from the U.S. and a mechanism to levy charges - a toll system - on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Militarily and economically, the confrontation has continued to produce exchanges of strikes between the U.S., Israel and Iran. The situation in the Strait of Hormuz has been particularly consequential; Iran is effectively keeping the waterway blocked, a disruption that curbs roughly 20% of the world’s oil and gas supplies. That constraint has tangible implications for energy markets and for logistics across maritime trade routes that use the strait.
Officials in the administration have urged advisers to adhere to the compressed timetable, viewing a limited-duration campaign as preferable to a protracted conflict. How Iran’s rejection of direct talks and its parallel peace plan will affect that timeline remains unclear. For now, the White House is coordinating diplomatic and strategic planning with the expectation that the heightened phase of fighting will conclude within weeks rather than months.