Trump agrees Iran war cost votes, but insists: 'I'd have to do it again'

US President Donald Trump acknowledged on Wednesday that the war with Iran was a major factor in the Republican Party's losses in Tuesday's midterm elections, agreeing with Vice President JD Vance's assessment but insisting that he would make the same decision again. Asked by a reporter about Vance's assertion that Republicans lost because of the war, Trump responded, "Well, I think it's largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term."

However, the President defended his decision to launch the military campaign, saying, "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." Asked whether he believed the war had been worth the political cost, Trump answered, "I do, yeah," before emphasizing that he believed there had been no alternative. "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, or everything that you see here someday might not exist," Trump said. The President also addressed the impact of the conflict on oil supplies, claiming that the situation in the Strait of Hormuz had improved significantly. "We have tremendous oil flowing out of the Hormuz right now. At the beginning there was none," he said, suggesting that rising prices, rather than the war itself, were the primary factor behind the Republican defeat.

Trump also indicated that he was prepared to work with Democrats following their electoral gains. "I'll get along probably with the Democrats unless they want to be destructive," he said, adding that Democrats had already contacted him about holding discussions. Trump's remarks came after Vance published a lengthy post on X examining the reasons for the Republican Party's defeat in the midterm elections. In the post, the Vice President identified four principal concerns among voters who had supported Trump in 2024 but switched to the Democrats in 2026: ending the war, addressing inflation and the cost of living, putting America first, and changing the United States' relationship with Israel.

Vance argued that the election results reflected dissatisfaction among former Republican voters rather than a failure of the party's supporters to participate in the election. "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," he wrote. He also disclosed that internal polling had identified dissatisfaction with US-Israel relations as a significant concern among voters who had abandoned the Republican Party, although he did not specify what changes those voters wanted.

Vance placed particular emphasis on the war, writing, "The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night." Asked specifically about Vance's post, Trump expressed approval of the Vice President's remarks. "I thought it was good. I knew that when I went in. We stopped them from having a nuclear weapon, and they'll never have a nuclear weapon," Trump stated. The President was also asked about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid a CBS News report that Trump had been consulting advisers about possibly replacing him following the Republican Party's electoral defeat.

According to the report, Trump had raised questions about Hegseth's future in conversations with advisers, although no decision had been reached. Asked about Hegseth on Wednesday, Trump responded, "I think he's doing a very good job."