Former President Donald Trump acknowledged Wednesday that the U.S. military confrontation with Iran contributed to Republican losses in the midterm elections but doubled down on his decision, declaring he would authorize the operation again to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House a day after Democrats secured control of both the House and Senate, Trump largely agreed with Vice President JD Vance’s assessment that the Iran conflict played a major role in the GOP’s defeat. However, he argued the political backlash stemmed more from spiking gas prices than opposition to the military campaign itself.
‘You Can’t Let Iran Have a Nuclear Weapon’
“Well, I think it’s largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term,” Trump said when asked about Vance’s analysis. “Long term it’s the only answer. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
Pressed on whether the operation was worth the electoral consequences, Trump didn’t hesitate: “You have no choice. You have to do it.” He emphasized that confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions outweighed immediate political fallout, warning of catastrophic risks if Tehran acquired atomic weapons.
Vance Blames ‘The War’ for GOP Defeat
Trump’s remarks followed a lengthy social media post by Vance, who argued Republicans lost not due to low turnout but because key 2024 Trump-Vance voters defected to Democrats over frustrations with the Iran conflict, cost-of-living pressures, and other issues.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote, challenging those who supported the operation to openly defend the trade-off: “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so.”
While Trump placed more emphasis on gas prices than Vance, he endorsed the vice president’s broader assessment, reiterating that blocking Iran’s nuclear program remained his top priority regardless of electoral impact.
Iran Claims ‘Political Defeat’ Over U.S.
Iranian officials seized on the Republican losses to frame the election as a victory. Mohsen Rezaei, a top security official, boasted that Iran had handed Trump “a POLITICAL DEFEAT in Washington” while the U.S. shouldered the financial costs of the conflict.
The administration, meanwhile, rolled out new sanctions targeting Iranian oil smuggling networks, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowing to keep pressuring Tehran “whether by land, sea, or air.”
Trump offered no timeline for ending military operations, stating only that the campaign would continue until Iran’s nuclear threat was neutralized: “We’re never going to let them have a nuclear weapon.”
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/midterm-election/2026/11/04/trump-admits-iran-war-cost-republicans-votes-insists-id-do-it-again/