President Donald Trump said the Republican midterm loss was attributed to the war against Iran, but insisted the US had no other choice because Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
President Donald Trump has responded to Vice President JD Vance, who named relations with Israel and the war with Iran as key reasons for the Republican midterm defeat. Trump said the loss was attributed to the war against Iran, but he stood by the decision to wage it.
His defense of the campaign was blunt.
"We cannot allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons, and we have no other choice," Trump said.
Trump was addressing comments Vance made after the vote. As reported on Wednesday, Vance posted a lengthy thread on X that evening in which he named the war with Iran as the central factor in the results. "Our voters did turn out, but they may not have voted for us," Vance wrote.
In the thread, Vance recounted a data expert telling him that "many voters who supported Trump-Vance in 2024 are angry," and cited polling pointing to a desire among those voters for a shift on Israel.
Earlier on Wednesday, Vance had written on X that "the reason we lost is the war." Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday night that Iran "was a piece of it."
CBS News reported on Wednesday that Trump has been asking advisers whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should remain in his post following the midterm losses.
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