Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Trump doubles down on Iran War being worth losing House and Senate Jasmine Fernández Wednesday 04 November 2026 21:49 GMT Bookmark popover Removed from bookmarks Close popover Trump reacts to midterms bloodbath at ballroom ceremony President Donald Trump defended initiating a war in Iran , asserting it was the only way to stop the nation from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Left out here: Drops what it reported before
The article omits what The Independent itself reported earlier: US intelligence assessed in 2025 that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon. Without it, a reader takes Trump's repeated claim that the war stopped an Iranian bomb as fact.
Vice President JD Vance attributed major Republican losses in the midterm elections directly to the ongoing conflict in Iran. Democrats gained control of both chambers of Congress following a decisive victory during the midterm elections. Trump acknowledged the financial and political impact of the war on Americans while maintaining his stance that Iran must not get a nuclear weapon. “I knew the war was going to impact it, but whether it impacted it or not, Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
When asked about Vice President JD Vance’s X post attributing the election losses directly to the war, Trump said: “Well, I know how he feels about it. I think it was fine. I thought it was good. We stopped them from having a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon,” the president said. In full Trump insists he’d do Iran war ‘again’ despite admitting it hurt Republicans in midterms: Live updates
The Independent reports Trump's defence of the Iran war after the midterm losses. It ends the piece on his claim that the war stopped Iran getting a nuclear weapon and sets nothing against it. The paper's own earlier reporting said US intelligence found Iran was not building one.
Gives a contested claim the last word
Serious
“We stopped them from having a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon”
Why this matters
The article closes on Trump's words "We stopped them from having a nuclear weapon". Nothing follows except a link.
The impression it gives
A reader comes away thinking Iran was on the way to a nuclear weapon and that the war halted it, a claim nobody in the article questions.
The context
The Independent's own live coverage a month earlier reported that US intelligence assessed in 2025 that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and had suspended its weapons programme in 2003. The article leaves that out.
“asserting it was the only way to stop the nation from acquiring a nuclear weapon”
Why this matters
The article opens on Trump's assertion that war was "the only way" to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. It attributes the claim to him but never tests it, though it rests on Iran seeking one.
The impression it gives
A reader takes it that Iran was pursuing a weapon and that diplomacy had no route to stopping it.
The context
The outlet's earlier reporting records US intelligence finding no active weapons programme. The same coverage reported that envoy Steve Witkoff was making progress in talks with Iran, which Trump said he did not really want.
Trump said the war was the only way to stop Iran getting a nuclear weapon, a claim at odds with the 2025 US intelligence assessment that Iran was not building one and had suspended its weapons programme in 2003.
Drops what it reported before
Serious
What is missing
The article omits what The Independent itself reported earlier: US intelligence assessed in 2025 that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon. Without it, a reader takes Trump's repeated claim that the war stopped an Iranian bomb as fact.