PHOTO: REUTERS

CNN ONLINE

Ahead of a House vote Wednesday on whether to rein in President Donald Trump’s Iran war powers, Speaker Mike Johnson pleaded with Republicans to oppose it.

In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, he repeatedly said it would be “dangerous” and would sap Trump of negotiating power to cut a deal to end the war. And the thing is: Johnson had a point. Such votes signal a lack of resolve even in Trump’s own party to continue the war.

But four Republicans voted for it anyway, allowing the resolution to pass 215-208 and delivering Trump one of the biggest legislative rebukes of his presidency. If the resolution were to pass in the Senate — where 50 of 100 senators have appeared to support it — Trump would be required to either withdraw troops from Iran or gain Congress’ approval for the war.

The White House, which has signaled it believes the underlying law is unconstitutional, could try to ignore the resolution.

But at the very least, the House vote was a striking commentary on just how much Republicans appear to be losing patience with Trump and his politically damaging war. It was a sign that a small but clearly significant number of them are less willing to give him time to try and figure a way out.

The result is that Trump is increasingly boxed in.

And that’s becoming a familiar position for the president, whose poll numbers have dropped to historic lows. With potential destruction looming for the GOP in November and as the Iran war trends towards a quagmire, Trump is losing control of what lies ahead.

The last week has repeatedly shown how Trump is being forced to grapple with this more claustrophobic political reality.

First, there was his apparent retreat on controlling the Kennedy Center and, more significantly, his administration reversing itself on the “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate those who claim they were wronged by the Biden administration.

Of course, he’s suggested a deal was nigh many times before. And the House apparently wasn’t buying it, with those four Republicans delivering one of the most striking efforts to restrict Trump to date.

If the Senate follows suit, he’ll really find himself inside a box.