Trump attributes Republicans' midterm losses to Iran war

US President Donald Trump acknowledges the war in Iran was largely responsible for the Republican Party's midterm election losses.

US President Donald Trump said the war in Iran was largely responsible for the Republican Party's losses in the midterm elections, saying the conflict had driven up energy prices and eroded voter support.

Making his first public appearance at the White House after Tuesday's elections, the US president defended the decision to go to war, framing it as a strategic necessity. "It drove the gasoline up a little in the short term and probably that's true, but at the same time if I had to do it again, I'd do it again because in the long term it's the only answer, you can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon."

Trump also rejected suggestions the conflict would be wound down quickly now that the elections were over, insisting he had never promised to end the war in Iran immediately after the midterms.

"The war will end whenever I want it to. But it's got to be done right," Trump said.

The president's comments came after US Vice-President JD Vance, in a lengthy post on social media platform X earlier Wednesday, cited a pollster who had accurately predicted the election results and found that many voters who backed Trump in 2024 were angry and planned to vote for Democrats.

When asked what would bring them back to the party, those voters pointed to four demands, ending the war, focusing on the cost of living and inflation, putting the United States first, and changing the US relationship with Israel.

Vance argued, however, that rising oil prices, rather than the war itself, were the biggest political liability.

Vance's extraordinary remarks also raise questions about the political fortunes of senior Pentagon officials in particular Defense Secretary Pete Hegesth.

Hegseth is already deeply unpopular in Congress, where some lawmakers are expected to seek his impeachment.