President Donald Trump agreed Wednesday that the Iran war contributed to Republicans’ midterm losses while strongly defending his decision to launch the conflict. Trump also rejected suggestions of a rift with Vice President JD Vance after Vance offered a blunt assessment of Tuesday’s Republican defeat.
“I know how he feels about it,” Trump told reporters when asked about Vance’s remarks. “I think it was fine. Yeah, I thought it was good,” Trump added about the vice president’s post.
Vance had argued earlier Wednesday that Republicans lost because voters who supported the Trump-Vance ticket in 2024 switched to Democrats in 2026. “The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote while urging Republicans to confront the election results directly.
Vance also pointed toward cost-of-living concerns, the America First agenda and the United States’ relationship with Israel as issues requiring Republican attention. Trump said Wednesday that Vance’s central argument about the Iran conflict was “largely true.”
The president specifically connected the conflict with higher gasoline prices, which became a significant issue during the closing months of the midterm campaign. “I think it’s largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit, short term,” Trump said.
Trump nevertheless insisted that the political consequences would not have changed his decision to use military force against Iran. “If I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again because long term, it’s the only answer,” Trump said. “You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he added.
Asked directly whether he believed the war had been worth the political and economic costs, Trump answered affirmatively. “I do. Yeah. I mean, well, you have no choice,” Trump said.
Trump later reiterated that he would not change his handling of the conflict despite Republicans losing control of both chambers of Congress. “As far as that war is concerned, I would have done nothing differently,” Trump said.
His comments closely followed remarks he made Tuesday night as the scale of the Republican losses became increasingly apparent. Trump told The Wall Street Journal that Iran was “a piece” of the election result but maintained that launching the military campaign was correct. “I did the right thing. I would have done it again,” Trump said Tuesday.
The president’s Wednesday remarks appeared designed partly to shut down speculation that Vance’s criticism had created a serious disagreement inside the administration. Vance’s statement was unusually direct, particularly because he placed the Iran conflict at the center of Republicans’ election-night problems.
“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so,” Vance wrote. Vance said Republicans could disagree over whether the military campaign justified its political cost but should acknowledge how voters reacted to it.
Trump made clear Wednesday that he was comfortable with Vance expressing that position publicly. The president said he already understood Vance’s views on the conflict before the vice president published his post.
Trump simultaneously offered another explanation for Republicans’ losses: his own absence from the ballot. “If I were on the ballot, we would have won,” Trump told reporters Wednesday.
Trump pointed to large crowds at his campaign rallies and argued that Republican candidates were unable to replicate his connection with supporters. “You couldn’t transfer that love,” Trump said of the enthusiasm he encountered while campaigning for Republican candidates.
