Vance Says Iran War Cost Republicans Congress in Break With Trump

Photo: AFP via Al Jazeera

US Vice President JD Vance has blamed the war in Iran for the Republicans' midterm defeat, saying it cost his party control of Congress, in the clearest public break yet with President Donald Trump over a war Trump still defends.

Vance wrote a long post on X on Wednesday, a day after Democrats swept both chambers of Congress. His opening line left no room for doubt.

"The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," he wrote. "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."

He added: "Everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there."

Vance said he had spoken to a pollster he trusts, who told him that many people who voted for Trump in 2024 were angry and planning to vote Democrat this time. When those voters were asked what would bring them back, the top four answers were to end the war, to focus on the cost of living, to put America first, and to change the relationship with Israel.

Al Jazeera notes that Vance is a likely candidate for president in 2028 and the heir to Trump's movement, and that he has been a key negotiator with Iran. His post, it says, is the closest he has yet come to publicly parting from his boss on an issue that will keep haunting Republicans while the war goes on.

The split with Trump is sharp, and it is worth setting the two positions side by side:

• Trump, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, said: "I did the right thing. I would have done it again."
• Vance said the war was the reason for the defeat, and said an earlier recommendation to end the war was sound advice.

Vance did try to soften the clash. Reuters reports that he said Trump had also accepted that the war cost Republicans the midterms. But Reuters adds that Trump's own words were far more careful, calling the war only one of several reasons for the loss.

The numbers behind Vance's post help explain why he spoke so plainly. USA Today, citing an NBC News exit poll, reports that 74 percent of voters said the war with Iran was a crucial or major factor in their vote, while only 37 percent said the United States made the right decision to take military action against Iran.

Reuters also reports a practical consequence. Vance's words could make Trump's next decision harder, as the president weighs whether to restart major combat operations against Iran, a step US officials have told Reuters is still under consideration. The report adds that the remarks raise questions about Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is deeply unpopular in Congress, where some lawmakers are expected to seek his impeachment.

This is a follow-up to two posts from today. Trump first admitted the war hurt his party and warned he would veto bills he calls insane, and then said plainly that he would launch the war again. Vance's post is the first time a senior figure in his own administration has answered that with a flat no, it was not worth it. Democrats took both the House and the Senate on Tuesday, and they take their seats in January.

What this means in plain terms: the argument inside the Republican Party is now out in the open. Trump says the war was right and he would do it again. His own vice president says it lost them Congress for six years. How Trump answers that, and whether he restarts major fighting with Iran, is the next decision to watch.

Sources

• Reuters: Vance repudiates Iran war after US electoral defeat
• Al Jazeera: Presidential hopeful Vance appears to question Iran war after polls debacle
• USA Today: JD Vance blames Iran war for Republicans' midterm wipeout

The next test is whether Trump restarts major combat operations against Iran, or takes the off-ramp Vance is now openly pointing to.

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