Did Iran War Cause His Party's Midterms Defeat? "Largely True," Says Trump

Donald Trump had a short and a long answer when asked whether the war in Iran, which the US launched along with Israel in February, was the reason for his Republican Party's defeat in the midterm polls on Wednesday.

"Largely true," he said, when a reporter at the White House mentioned Vice President JD Vance's X post that "the reason we lost is the war". Vance said many voters who backed Trump in the 2024 presidential polls abandoned Republicans due to frustration over the Middle East conflict.

Trump's Longer Answer

Trump followed up with longer sentences. "I think it's largely true because it drove the gasoline [prices] up a little bit in the short term," he said of Iran as a factor. "At the same time, if I had to do it again... I will have to do it again," he added, apparently speaking of strikes on the country.

#WATCH | On Vice President JD Vance blaming the war with Iran for the Republicans' defeat in the 2026 midterms, US President Donald Trump says, "I'll get along, with the Democrats, unless they want to be destructive. But they the power of the veto, so we don't like what they're doing. But they've already called, and they want to talk about things." "...Well, I think it's largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit for a short term. But at the same time, I had to do again, I'd have to do it again because for a long term, it's the only answer. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. You have no choice. 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... I'll get along, with the Democrats, unless they want to be destructive. But they the power of the veto, so we don't like what they're doing. But they've already called, and they want to talk about things..." (source: The White House/ YouTube)

— ANI (@ANI) November 4, 2026

"Because, long-term, that's the only answer. You can't let Iran have nuclear weapons," he argued, adding, "Or everything you see here, someday might not exist. Maybe this room might be the only one that does," referring to the under-construction ballroom about which he delivered a 20-minute monologue before he took reporters' questions and finally spoke of the crucial midterms.

"As far as the Iran war is concerned, I wouldn't have done anything different," he said to another question later.

He said the Democrats, who now control the US Congress, should not be "destructive". He mentioned the "veto" he has as President over the legislature's power to change policy -- a caveat he added repeatedly during the election process too.

READ | Explained: Donald Trump's Veto Powers And How He Can Use Them

Tuesday's midterm election results saw a shift heavily influenced by voter backlash against escalating living costs, tariff policies, and the economic strain of the US-Iran conflict.

What Iran Said

Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezai said earlier on Wednesday that Tehran had now handed Trump a "strategic" and a "political defeat", as the Democratic Party seized control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in a historic blue wave. "The Iranian nation handed Trump a strategic defeat on the battlefield and in the Hormuz -- and a political defeat in Washington," Rezai said on X, referring to Iran's blockade of key sea trade route Strait of Hormuz being major leverage during the conflict.

READ | US Strikes In Strait Of Hormuz Create More Questions About What's Ahead

He said that the American people were bearing the brunt of the financial burden of the war. "Anyone who takes on Iran will pay the price-from the battlefield to their own doorstep," he warned.

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, however, noted that even though the midterms dealt a blow to Trump, Washington's policy towards Tehran will not shift. "Those who still harbour even the slightest hope that the behaviour of the hegemonic system might change through partisan or factional shifts, or who imagine that making concessions to the United States can dissuade it from hostility towards the Iranian nation, are seriously mistaken," Khamenei said in a statement. “Should such aggressions be repeated, the war's scope will become much wider,” he added.