Vance Blames Iran War, Israel Ties for Midterm Losses; President Trump Defends Strikes
By The Media Line Staff
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Vice President JD Vance was largely correct in attributing Republicans’ sweeping congressional election losses to the war in Iran and US relations with Israel, but defended his decision to launch the military campaign in February.
Speaking to reporters while touring construction of a new White House ballroom, Trump said he agreed with Vance’s assessment of the election results but would not have changed his approach to Iran.
“I know how he feels about it … I think it was fine. I thought it was good,” President Trump said of Vance’s post on X. “I knew the war was gonna impact [the election results]. Whether it impacted it or not, Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he added. “I would’ve done nothing different.”
President Trump maintained that the US-Israeli military campaign launched in February was necessary to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Asked about earlier statements that the conflict would conclude immediately after the midterm elections, President Trump denied making such a prediction.
“I said nuclear weapons would be destroyed. And that’s what happened with Midnight Hammer,” he said, referring to the June 2025 strikes that he previously claimed had completely destroyed Iran’s nuclear program.
“The war will end whenever I want it to. But it’s got to be done right,” President Trump added.
Vance’s assessment followed Democratic victories that gave the party control of both chambers of Congress.
In his X post, the vice president cited a pollster who identified four principal concerns among President Trump’s 2024 supporters who subsequently backed Democrats: ending the Iran war, inflation and living costs, prioritizing America and changing Washington’s relationship 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.”
Vance argued that Republicans should acknowledge the political consequences of the conflict rather than dispute their causes.
“But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”
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