Trump Says Iran War Likely Cost GOP the Midterms, and He'd Do It Again

Donald Trump isn't dodging the blame. In his first public appearance since the election, the US president told reporters Wednesday it is "largely true" that the war in Iran cost Republicans the midterm election — while insisting the culprit was the price at the pump, not the conflict itself.

"I think it's largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit, short-term, and probably it's true," Trump said. He didn't stop there: given the choice again, he said he'd have to do it again, arguing that over the long run it was "the only answer."

His bottom line: "You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon." Trump said he considers the decision "worth it," framing the election damage as a temporary cost rather than a mistake.

Trump's comments land alongside similar finger-pointing from Vice President JD Vance, who blamed the party's weak vote count on the war in Iran and on the US' "relationship to Israel." Two of the administration's loudest voices are now publicly connecting a foreign conflict to a domestic defeat.

That's a notable admission from a president who typically resists conceding losses — and it sets up the fight ahead. Republicans are left reconciling a midterm drubbing with a White House that says it would run the same play tomorrow.