US President Donald Trump acknowledged that “a lot of people didn’t like” Vice President JD Vance’s public assessment blaming recent Republican midterm election losses on the ongoing war with Iran, though he insisted the remarks caused no friction between them.
When asked by reporters whether Vance’s post-election analysis had strained their relationship, Trump replied, “No, not at all. But a lot of people didn’t like his comments. But not me.”
Following last week’s legislative setbacks, Vance had published an extensive social media statement attributing GOP defeats directly to the military conflict, arguing that voters penalized the party at the ballot box.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote, challenging critics to justify the electoral cost. “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. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.”
The vice president’s remarks drew substantial bipartisan pushback. Trump had previously acknowledged in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the eight-month military engagement “was a piece of it” on election night, though he defended the overarching necessity of the campaign during a separate appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes.
“I can tell you, if I had it to do again, this historically, for history, will go down as one of the best things we ever did,” Trump stated, emphasizing that halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions outweighed immediate political fallout. “If they had a nuclear weapon during my term, I would be excoriated far worse than what happened. I’ve stopped them from having a nuclear weapon. That’s a big thing.”
Regarding coordination on the vice president’s viral post, Trump noted that Vance had consulted him beforehand.
“He asked me, ‘What do I think?’ I said, ‘Write what you feel,'” Trump recalled.
While leaving open the possibility of future military engagement if diplomatic efforts stall, the president indicated that renewed hostilities remain unlikely should current peace negotiations progress.