President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth conduct a news conference in the White House briefing room on Monday, April 6, 2026. | Tom Williams/Getty Images This story appeared in  Today, Explained,  a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day.  Subscribe here . We’re now more than five weeks into President Donald Trump’s unpopular and apparently unprovoked war with Iran, and any decisive “victory” still seems far off . The US and Israel have dominated the battlefield from the start. But Iran successfully brought an economic crisis to a gunfight: By closing the Strait of Hormuz, a major chokepoint in the global energy trade, it spiked the price of oil , fertilizer, and other goods and triggered rationing and curfews in dozens of countries. A gallon of gas now tops $4, on average, in the United States. Trump has veered from one approach to another as he struggles to resolve this thorny situation.…