WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) agreed with Vice President JD Vance’s assessment that the war with Iran contributed to the Republican Party’s defeat in the 2026 US midterm elections, acknowledging that the conflict drove up gasoline prices in the short term but insisting that military action against Tehran was necessary to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Responding to media questions about Vance attributing the party’s electoral setback to the Iran war, Trump said the assessment was “largely true”, while maintaining that he would make the same decision if given another opportunity.
“Well, I think it’s largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short-term, and probably that’s uh probably it’s true. But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again because long-term, it’s the only answer. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
BREAKING: President Trump says ‘largely true’ Iran war caused midterms loss, after VP JD Vance comments https://t.co/OcLCVKdCA5
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 4, 2026
The US President also suggested that his personal popularity had not translated into electoral support for Republican candidates, claiming that the party failed to transfer the enthusiasm witnessed at his rallies to other candidates.
“If I were on the ballot, we would have won. You saw the people—they were packed, thousands and thousands of people were there… But you couldn’t just transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies; it was incredible. We weren’t able to transfer that love to the candidates,” Trump said.
Reiterating his defence of the military campaign, the US President said Washington had no alternative but to act against Iran, despite the political and economic consequences of the conflict. “You have no choice. I mean, I thought the oil would go up a lot more, and I did it on that basis. You have no choice. You have to do it. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Trump also argued that the increase in fuel prices, rather than the war itself, was the primary factor behind voter dissatisfaction, pointing to the resumption of oil flows through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. “We have tremendous oil flowing out of the Hormuz right now. At the beginning, there was none. And probably that’s the primary reason, the price, not the war, the price,” he said.
The President further indicated that he was willing to work with Democrats following their strong performance in the midterm elections, but warned that he would use his veto power if he disagreed with their legislative agenda.
Asked about the possibility of Democrats pursuing impeachment proceedings against him, Trump dismissed the prospect, saying such an initiative would damage the Democratic Party. “I think it would destroy the Democratic Party if they did that. Because impeachment for no reason. What? For having a successful country? Our country is more successful now than at any time in its history,” he said.
Trump made the remarks while signing the final steel beam for the White House Ballroom, adding his name alongside the signatures of workers involved in the construction project.
Earlier, Vice President JD Vance had directly attributed the Republican Party’s sweeping midterm defeat to the war with Iran, arguing that voter dissatisfaction over the conflict had prompted a significant number of supporters who backed the Trump-Vance ticket in 2024 to vote for Democratic candidates in 2026.
In a lengthy post on X, Vance rejected arguments that inadequate Republican voter turnout was primarily responsible for the defeat, saying internal polling indicated that many former supporters had switched sides. “The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone… The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote.
One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was “composition”—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up.
So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we’re going to shock the world? “No,” he told me. “We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are pissed and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us.”
Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.
There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true.
But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone.
Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were:
1) End the war
2) Focus on cost of living/inflation
3) Put America First
4) Change our relationship to IsraelOur 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. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.)
In the next few months, there’s going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I’m open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you.
The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.
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. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.
But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.
I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are pissed off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) November 4, 2026
Citing internal polling, Vance identified four major concerns among voters who had abandoned the Republican Party: ending the war, addressing the cost of living and inflation, prioritising an ‘America First’ agenda, and changing the country’s relationship with Israel.
He also defended calls for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, saying that criticism of the administration’s approach reflected the concerns of Republican voters. Vance urged party members to acknowledge the reasons behind the electoral setback rather than shift blame to other factors, calling on supporters to channel their frustration into electing Republicans who shared their America First outlook.
This comes amid a broader Democratic resurgence in the 2026 midterm elections, with US networks projecting that the party will reclaim control of both chambers of Congress, significantly shifting the balance of power in Washington.
A Democratic majority in the House would allow the party to intensify congressional scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s administration through investigations and hearings. Control of the Senate would also give Democrats greater influence over legislation and presidential nominations. (ANI)
