Report: Trump Admin Is “Crowdsourcing” Ideas for Ending War in Iran

Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, support us with a donation of any size. As the U.S. war on Iran enters its sixth month with no tactical end in sight, U.S. Central Command is reportedly crowdsourcing unorthodox methods to “punish Iran.” “We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” an email to a broad group of military analysts from CENTCOM read, according to reporting from CNN . Two anonymous sources confirmed CENTCOM’s method of asking for more ideas on how to end the war. It is highly unusual for crowdsourcing to be used in such situations, especially over group emails. One of the sources speaking to the network attempted to defend the method, acknowledging the lack of ideas from the administration itself. “You need creative minds at times — especially if you’re running out of conventional options,” that source said . Related Story News | War & Peace Pentagon Quietly Revises Death Count of US Troops in Iran War From 18 to 14 Three officials said that the reason for the change was because their deaths happened after the April ceasefire. By Sharon Zhang , T ruthout July 24, 2026 Truthout The email was sent prior to President Donald Trump’s threat to further bomb Iran over the weekend, which was quickly followed by Trump saying that such bombings were no longer necessary due to a dealmaking process that was supposedly unfolding. If the administration reverses course yet again and begins another major bombing campaign, CIA assessments have concluded that such action would be unlikely to result in the peace deal or long-term conclusion to the war that Trump claims to be seeking. Despite those assessments, the U.S. reportedly dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on Iran’s Qeshm Island last week . The bomb, called a Mark-84, landed on a home in a residential area, killing two parents and their 2-year-old child in the blast. Two other children in the family survived. If the U.S. was aiming to destroy residential, non-military targets, it would likely constitute a war crime . Trump’s statements don’t indicate a clear direction for how he plans to proceed with the unsanctioned war. On Saturday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. was “locked and loaded and ready to go” with more attacks against Iran, but also stated that he was holding off for now, citing “the perimeters of a deal” that had “been agreed to” by the two sides. His post also claimed that the deal would include the “Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.” On Sunday, Trump reiterated that talks between the U.S. and Iran were ongoing , voicing optimism regarding an end to the conflict. However, on Monday, Iranian leaders disputed that such direct talks were happening. “We currently do not have negotiations with America,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said . After news of Baghaei’s statement broke, Trump posted a rant on Truth Social , lamenting what he called Iran’s “duplicitous” negotiation style. Wrote Trump: They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about. “Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades,” Trump claimed. “It is very simple, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” However, this is hardly the first time that Trump has claimed negotiations or a deal has come about, only for discussions or an agreed-upon deal to later fall apart, with both sides restarting hostilities shortly after. 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Prohibited: You cannot use this work for commercial purposes. Article HTML Republish HTML code for copying <h1>Report: Trump Admin Is “Crowdsourcing” Ideas for Ending War in Iran</h1> By Chris Walker This article was originally published by <a href src="https://truthout.org/articles/report-trump-admin-is-crowdsourcing-ideas-for-ending-war-in-iran/">Truthout</a> "We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran," CENTCOM wrote in a group email. As the U.S. war on Iran enters its sixth month with no tactical end in sight, U.S. Central Command is reportedly crowdsourcing unorthodox methods to “punish Iran.” “We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” an email to a broad group of military analysts from CENTCOM read, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/politics/us-military-iran-war-troops-punish">according to reporting from CNN</a>.  Two anonymous sources confirmed CENTCOM’s method of asking for more ideas on how to end the war. It is highly unusual for crowdsourcing to be used in such situations, especially over group emails.  One of the sources speaking to the network attempted to defend the method, acknowledging the lack of ideas from the administration itself. “You need creative minds at times — especially if you’re running out of conventional options,” <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/politics/us-military-iran-war-troops-punish">that source said</a>.  The email was sent prior to President Donald Trump’s threat to further bomb Iran over the weekend, which was quickly followed by Trump saying that such bombings were no longer necessary due to a dealmaking process that was supposedly unfolding. If the administration reverses course yet again and begins another major bombing campaign, <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/213863/defense-department-trump-crowdsourcing-creative-ways-punish-iran">CIA assessments have concluded</a> that such action would be unlikely to result in the peace deal or long-term conclusion to the war that Trump claims to be seeking.  Despite those assessments, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/world/middleeast/us-iran-bomb-mk84-qeshm-island.html">the U.S. reportedly dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on Iran’s Qeshm Island last week</a>. The bomb, called a Mark-84, landed on a home in a residential area, killing two parents and their 2-year-old child in the blast. Two other children in the family survived. If the U.S. was aiming to destroy residential, non-military targets, <a href="https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule10">it would likely constitute a war crime</a>.  Trump’s statements don’t indicate a clear direction for how he plans to proceed with the unsanctioned war. On Saturday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/08/02/nx-s1-5917113/trump-says-hes-cancelling-iran-strikes-deal-pending">the U.S. was “locked and loaded and ready to go”</a> with more attacks against Iran, but also stated that he was holding off for now, citing “the perimeters of a deal” that had “been agreed to” by the two sides. <a href="https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/40453">His post also claimed that</a> the deal would include the “Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”  On Sunday, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/trump-iran-talks-attacks-canceled-hormuz-nuclear-rcna590535">Trump reiterated that talks between the U.S. and Iran were ongoing</a>, voicing optimism regarding an end to the conflict. However, on Monday, Iranian leaders disputed that such direct talks were happening. “We currently do not have negotiations with America,” <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/trump-iran-talks-attacks-canceled-hormuz-nuclear-rcna590535">Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said</a>. After news of Baghaei’s statement broke, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117032272228248086">Trump posted a rant on Truth Social</a>, lamenting what he called Iran’s “duplicitous” negotiation style. Wrote Trump: <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about. </blockquote> “Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades,” Trump claimed. “It is very simple, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” However, this is hardly the first time that Trump has claimed negotiations or a deal has come about, only for discussions or an agreed-upon deal to later fall apart, with both sides restarting hostilities shortly after.  <hr> This <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/report-trump-admin-is-crowdsourcing-ideas-for-ending-war-in-iran/">article</a> was originally published by <a href="https://truthout.org">Truthout</a> and is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)</a>. Please maintain all links and credits in accordance with our <a href="https://truthout.org/republishing-policy">republishing guidelines</a>. Copy this HTML code to republish the article on your website Close Copy HTML This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) , and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license. Chris Walker Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout , based in Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker . Truthout

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