Vance says "the reason we lost is the war" as Trump says Iran played a part but he would do it again
The vice president pointed to the Iran war in a long post on X about the GOP's midterm losses. Trump has said the war was a piece of the defeat but stood by his decision.
As of 7:09 a.m. ET, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026
Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that the war with Iran is why Republicans lost Tuesday's midterm elections. President Donald Trump has said the war played a part in the defeat but that he would make the same decision again.
"The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," Vance wrote in a long post on X Wednesday morning.
Vance wrote that Republican voters turned out, but that "the main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026."
He said a pollster had asked those voters what would bring them back. Vance listed the top four answers: "1) End the war 2) Focus on cost of living/inflation 3) Put America First 4) Change our relationship to Israel." He wrote that "the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats."
"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," Vance wrote. "But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there."
He also said Rachel Campos Duffy's call for a diplomatic end to the conflict "turns out her political advice was sound," and warned that "anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you."
Trump: "Iran was a piece of it"
Trump acknowledged the war's role in interviews after the results came in, Reuters reported (Kanishka Singh and Jarrett Renshaw). "I think a part of it was Iran," he told Fox News, according to Reuters. He told The Wall Street Journal that "Iran was a piece of it," Reuters said.
Trump stood by his decision to attack Iran. "I did the right thing," he told the Journal, according to Reuters. "I would have done it again."
Asked about Vance's post at a White House event on the ballroom construction on Wednesday afternoon, Trump again said the war likely hurt Republicans, pointing to higher gasoline prices, and said he would do it again, CBS News reported.
The war, now in its ninth month, has been unpopular with Americans since it began, Reuters reported. In Tehran, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wrote on X that "Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message," according to Reuters and CBS News.
