USAupdated 1h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 25 March 2026J.D. Vance Blames Trump’s Iran War for GOP Midterm Losses
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Vance blamed Iran war started by Trump for GOP losses. Vance said 'The reason we lost is the war' in a post.
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Vance blames Iran war
Vice President J.D. Vance pinned the GOP’s midterm losses on the Iran war that President Donald Trump started, saying, “The reason we lost is the war.”
Vance argued that Trump’s war with Iran drove up oil prices while costs were already high, and he said, “Our voters showed up.”
Vance said a pollster told him four top issues Republicans needed to address, including ending the war on Iran, focusing on the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing the U.S. relationship with Israel.
Trump responded that he didn’t see the losses “as a hit on me,” and he said he would work with the Democratic-controlled Congress and not spend the next two years “vetoing everything.”
Democrats take control
Democrats swept to power in the House and Senate, and CNN said the result was “in rejection of Trump agenda.”
ABC News reported that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrated the flip in control of Congress and said, “We are going to work hard. We are going to work hard to drive costs down with the president or without him. Period.”
ABC News also said Speaker Mike Johnson explained his decision to step aside from leading the House GOP conference, writing, “I have decided that I will not be a candidate for a leadership position in the 120th Congress.”
ABC News’ voter polling found that 34% of U.S. House voters said the war in Iran was “crucial,” while 49% said the same about the cost of living, and 55% said government corruption was crucial to their vote.
What comes next
The Guardian said the midterm results gave Democrats the ability to put a serious check on Trump’s agenda, including blocking any new appointments to the supreme court or his cabinet. The Hill reported that the GOP’s losses left Trump tangling with empowered Democrats for the next two years and would make it tougher for the president to confirm judges and other appointees.
“Legislative victories will be impossible without working with Democrats.”
The Guardian said Republicans had previously held a majority of 53 seats out of 100, but that majority was overturned, and it said 35 seats were on the ballot. The Hill said legislative victories would be impossible without working with Democrats, and it noted that the last time Trump was president and Democrats held congressional majorities, the president was impeached twice.