Republicans are worried about political fallout from President Donald Trump's war with Iran.

That's where we're starting the seven from the Washington Post.

I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Tuesday, March 10th.

Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories.

President Trump has been sending mixed messages on what's next in Iran, and that has sent

oil prices on a ride. Since the U.S. and Israel began strikes on Iran just over a week ago,

Trump's administration has suggested that this is just the beginning of the conflict.

But at a news conference yesterday, Trump took a different line.

The result will be lower oil prices, oil and gas prices for American families.

We've done that. We've done it. We've brought it very low. This was just an excursion into something that had to be done. We're getting very close to finishing that, too. In the meantime...

Hours later, though, Trump wrote in a post on social media that if Iran continued to block

oil shipping in the region, the country would be, quote, hit by the United States of America

20 times harder than they have been hit thus

far. Yesterday, the price of a barrel of oil spiked to levels not seen since Russia invaded Ukraine

in 2022, then dropped dramatically after Trump's initial comments, though it's significantly

higher than before the war. That's translating to higher gas

prices for Americans, and that is worrying Republicans ahead of November's midterm elections.

Republicans already face a challenging political environment as Trump's approval ratings have

dropped in recent months. Lower gas prices had been one thing Trump and his party have been touting as an economic win.

The Trump administration ordered more U.S. diplomats to leave the Middle East. That's number two.

Yesterday, an ordered departure went out to non-essential American staff and their families at the U.S. consulate in Adana in Turkey. A similar notice had been sent

a day earlier to staff at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia, and additional mandatory departures

...