“Trump would rather get wiped out in the midterms than allow Iran to have nuclear weapons they would use on us.”
************
If we accept the premise that Iran having nuclear weapons is an existential and intolerable threat then why waste time with MOU’s, frameworks for future negotiations, unofficial back channel talks, dubious mediators, and attempts at deals which everyone knows will never be honored by the Iranians? Iran sees any sign of hesitance or delays as weakness, and the more time they get the more trouble they create. Serious threats deserve a commensurate response and the resolve to finish what we started. Had this been a short and decisive war, the political fallout have been minimized IMO. In fact, Trump would probably have been heralded for winning one of the shortest wars in history.
You answered your question right up front.
I think you’d have a hard time making the case that even a warmongering psychopath like Lindsey Graham — let alone Donald Trump — ever really believed either premise you’ve presented here.