US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to launch military action against Iran, declaring that he would make the same decision again despite acknowledging that the war contributed to Republican losses in the midterm elections.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington on Sunday night, Trump responded to Vice President JD Vance’s social media comments blaming the Iran war for the Republicans’ electoral setbacks. Trump said Vance’s assessment was largely correct but argued that the vice president should have made clear whether he would support the military decision again.
“He was right, other than one thing,” Trump told reporters. “He should have made one other statement,” he added, posing a question about whether he would repeat the decision if given another opportunity.
“The answer is yes,” Trump said.
The president also rejected suggestions that Vance’s public criticism had created tensions between them, insisting that their relationship remained unaffected. However, Trump acknowledged that the vice president’s remarks had not been welcomed by everyone within the Republican Party.
“A lot of people didn’t like his comments,” Trump said. “But not me.”
Trump reiterated his position during an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, which aired Sunday evening. Asked whether Vance would make the same decision again, Trump said he did not know. He was unequivocal about his own position, however, arguing that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons justified the military action.
“My answer is an emphatic yes, because you can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
The comments came after Vance published a lengthy post on Wednesday addressing the Republican Party’s midterm election losses. In the post, the vice president directly identified the war as the principal reason for the party’s poor performance, writing: “The reason we lost is the war.”
Vance challenged Republican lawmakers and political figures who had supported the military campaign to explain whether they believed the decision had been worth the political consequences, particularly the loss of Senate seats.
He also argued that a significant number of voters who supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election had subsequently shifted their support to Democratic candidates.
The vice president’s intervention was notable because it publicly connected the administration’s foreign policy decisions with the Republican Party’s electoral performance. His comments also highlighted the political difficulties facing the White House as the consequences of the Iran conflict extend beyond the battlefield.
According to reports, Vance drafted the social media post himself and informed the White House before publishing it. Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son and a longtime political ally of Vance, quickly reposted the statement and expressed support for its message.
Trump had already acknowledged that the conflict had contributed to the Republicans’ midterm difficulties. On Wednesday, he pointed to rising gasoline prices associated with the war as one factor behind the electoral losses.
Higher fuel costs have become a politically sensitive issue in the United States, where household spending and inflation frequently influence voters’ assessments of the government. The war’s impact on energy markets has therefore created an additional challenge for the administration as it attempts to defend its national security policy while addressing domestic economic concerns.
During the CBS interview, Trump maintained that the military decision would ultimately be judged favourably by history, even if its immediate political consequences were damaging.
He acknowledged that the decision might not appear beneficial in the short term but argued that national security considerations should take precedence over electoral calculations.
“Is it a good decision for today and tomorrow? Maybe not, but I would have to go with what’s right for our country,” Trump said.
The exchange between Trump and Vance comes at a politically sensitive moment for the Republican administration. While Trump has defended the Iran campaign as necessary to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, Vance’s remarks have brought attention to the domestic political costs of the conflict.
Their differing emphasis does not necessarily indicate a breakdown in their political relationship. Trump has publicly defended Vance while making clear that he remains firmly committed to the decision to use military force against Iran.
The debate nevertheless underscores a central challenge for the administration: balancing its stated national security objectives with the economic and electoral consequences of a prolonged military conflict.
