Trump defends Iran war, admits it cost Republicans the election

Trump denies promising to end Iran war after elections, says conflict will end on his terms.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

President Donald Trump acknowledged Wednesday that the war with Iran contributed to the Republicans’ sweeping midterm election losses, agreeing with Vice President JD Vance’s assessment of the results while maintaining that the military campaign was necessary to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“I knew the war was gonna impact [the election results]. Whether it impacted it or not, Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters during a tour of the White House ballroom construction site.

“I would’ve done nothing different,” he added.

His comments followed a post on X in which Vance identified the Iran war and Washington’s relationship with Israel among the principal reasons voters abandoned Republicans, handing Democrats control of both chambers of Congress.

Vance cited a pollster who had questioned former Trump supporters about what might persuade them to return to the Republican Party.

Respondents identified ending the Iran conflict, addressing inflation and living costs, putting “America first” and changing US relations with Israel.

“Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results,” Vance wrote.

“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.”

Asked about Vance’s remarks, Trump expressed approval.

“I know how he feels about it… I think it was fine. I thought it was good,” he said.

Despite acknowledging the political consequences, Trump defended the decision to launch the joint US-Israeli offensive against Iran in February.

He also rejected questions concerning his earlier declarations that the conflict would end immediately following the midterm elections, falsely denying that he had made such statements.

“I said nuclear weapons would be destroyed. And that’s what happened with Midnight Hammer,” Trump said, referring to the June 2025 strikes that he previously claimed had obliterated Iran’s nuclear program.

“The war will end whenever I want it to. But it’s got to be done right,” he added.

Vance, meanwhile, challenged Republicans to confront the electoral consequences directly.

“But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”