Iran War Worth It Despite Midterm Election Losses: Trump

Washington, MINA – President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the war in Iran was worth the political and economic costs as his Republican Party lost the midterm elections, insisting that the country had no choice but to take military action to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, according to Anadolu Agency.

Asked at the White House whether he believed the conflict was worth it, Trump responded: “I do. Yeah. I mean, well, you have no choice.”

“The Iran thing we had to do, and we continue to do it,” he added.

Asked about Vice President JD Vance’s suggestion that the war in Iran contributed to Republican losses, Trump agreed, acknowledging that the conflict had pushed gasoline prices higher in the short term.

“Well, I think it’s largely true because it drove the gasoline up,” he said.

However, he defended the decision to launch and continue the military campaign, arguing that it was necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“At the same time, if I had to do it 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,” he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Vance blamed the war with Iran for Republicans’ defeat in the midterm elections, saying voter anger over the conflict drove former Trump supporters to back Democrats.

“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote in a statement on X.

Trump said Vance’s lengthy post was “good.” “I can tell you that as far as that war is concerned, I would have done nothing different,” Trump said.

Trump reiterated that if he was on the ballot, the Republicans “would have won.” “But they just, you couldn’t transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies, it was incredible and we weren’t able to transfer the love to candidates,” he added.

Later, Trump told CNBC that he can work with Democratic majorities in the next Congress on “many more things than people understand.”

The Iran conflict began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, triggering Iranian retaliation across the region, including strikes on US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. A memorandum signed by Washington and Tehran in June failed to resolve persistent tensions over security arrangements and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and hostilities have continued.

The political consequences have been substantial. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, with a projected 54-44 Senate majority and at least 228 House seats, and flipped key governorships in Georgia, Texas, Ohio, and Iowa. Vance’s concession that the war was “the reason” Republicans lost represents a rare public acknowledgment from within the administration that the conflict carried direct electoral costs.

Trump’s framing, that the war was necessary and that he would do it again, sets up a confrontation with the incoming Democratic Congress, which is positioned to control committees, launch investigations, and scrutinize the administration’s conduct of the conflict. His statement that he can work with Democrats on “many more things than people understand” suggests he intends to seek areas of cooperation rather than govern in permanent opposition, but the scope for compromise on Iran policy, arms transfers, and the recently announced halt to $4 billion in annual funding to Israel remains unclear.

The economic dimension is also unresolved. Trump acknowledged that the war drove gasoline prices up, and while Brent crude recently fell below $100 a barrel for the first time in a month as European gas prices dropped, the relief may not be sufficient to change public perceptions that the conflict imposed costs on American households. The newly elected Congress is likely to test whether those costs continue to be accepted without legislative challenge, particularly as the administration pursues its stated goal of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)