WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has conceded that the war with Iran played a decisive role in his party’s sweeping midterm defeat, acknowledging that rising gasoline prices and public anger over the conflict helped drive voters away from Republicans, reported by Arab News.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said Vice President JD Vance was “largely” right when he argued that Iran was the reason the party lost. “I think it’s largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term,” Trump said. Yet he defended the decision to go to war, insisting that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remained necessary. “If I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again,” he added.
Trump also rejected calls to dismiss Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, a leading supporter of military action against Iran. “I think he’s doing a very good job,” the president said.
Earlier, Vance delivered an unusually blunt assessment of the election result. In a long post on X, he wrote: “The reason we lost is the war.” He urged Republicans to confront the political cost honestly, even if they believed the conflict had been justified.
Vance said many voters who had supported Trump and himself in 2024 switched to Democrats in 2026 because of the war, its economic consequences, and a desire to change America’s relationship with Israel. His remarks appeared designed to distance him from an unpopular conflict as speculation grows about a possible 2028 presidential campaign. He has not formally announced that he will run.
The Democratic Party won control of both the House and the Senate in Tuesday’s elections, ending Republican dominance in Washington and handing Democrats the power to pass legislation, investigate the administration, and block Trump’s appointments.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the war “must end,” and suggested that Congress could use its control over federal funding to pressure the president. “The power of the purse is one of the ways of deterring a president who does war without the consent of the American people,” Schumer said.
The White House, meanwhile, sought to project defiance. In a social media post featuring a stern image of Trump at the Resolute Desk, it declared: “TRUMP IS STILL YOUR PRESIDENT.”
But the midterm rout has transformed the political landscape. With Democrats controlling Congress and Trump threatening vetoes, Washington now faces a period of confrontation — over the war, the economy, and the limits of presidential power.
