Trump responds as JD Vance launches extraordinary attack on president's Iran war

Donald Trump has responded to JD Vance's claim that the Republicans lost the midterm elections because of the Iran war.

The Vice President posted a long message on social media suggesting that the obvious reason for the Republicans' comprehensive loss to the Democrats was because of the ongoing war with Iran, which has increased the price of goods not only for Americans but across the world.

Although Vance claimed that Trump did agree that the Iran war played a significant part in why so many voted for the Democrats, including in Texas which has been Red since 1988, the 80-year-old seems to have no regrets about the conflict in the Middle East.

"The ​Iran thing we had to do, and ​we continue to do it," Trump told ⁠reporters today (4 November) following the historic loss.

'The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone'

Vance had written: "The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.

"There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true.

"But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone."

Despite the significant spike in oil and gasoline prices, Trump added that the war has been worth it to ​stop Tehran from 'having a nuclear weapon'.

Trump also emphasised that there's no love lost between him and Vance, despite his social media post earlier today, as he made it clear that he wouldn't have done anything different when it comes to the conflict.

'I would have done nothing different'

"I can tell you that as ​far as ​that war ⁠is concerned, I would have done nothing different," Trump said.

Trump also said ​that if he had been on ​the ⁠ballot, he believed 'we would have won'.

"But they just, you couldn't transfer that love. There was such love ⁠at ​those rallies, it was incredible ​and we weren't able to transfer the love to candidates," ​he said.

Although the White House did put out an eerie response to the election result that stressed that Trump will remain the president for the next two years, there could potentially be a way for the Democrats to oust him from his position.

The Blue side now control the Senate and the House, which puts them in a very strong position ahead of the planned elections in 2028, where Trump will almost certainly have to step aside given it's impossible for him to serve a third term, unless he can find himself a loophole.

JD Vance's statement on the midterm elections in full

"One of the things the data analysts on our side obsessed over was "composition"—whether the electorate looked close enough to 2024 for Republicans to win. And despite polls that showed a Democrat blowout, the data kept on telling us the same story: in some states turnout was merely OK, in other states it was downright amazing, and in no state was it catastrophic. There was a genuine sense of optimism on our team: our people were showing up.

"So, I asked the smartest data guy I know, does that mean we're going to shock the world? "No," he told me. "We might do better than the polls suggest. But the data is telling us that a lot of Trump/Vance 2024 voters are p****d and planning to vote for the other guys. Our voters are turning out, but they may not vote for us."

"Well, that looks prophetic now. Our voters did show up. In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.

"There will be a lot of infighting and arguing over what happened and why that is. One of the pollsters I really respect told me that our economic messaging wasn’t sharp enough down the stretch. I’m sure that’s true. But the real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone.

"Another pollster—one of the smartest people I know in politics, told me yesterday we’d lose the generic ballot by 13 points. I felt negative going into Tuesday, but even I was shocked by this. In his polling, he saw that a lot of Trump 2024 voters were angry and planning to vote for Democrats. He asked those voters who had abandoned us what would cause them to come back on our team. The top four answers, accounting for nearly all of the responses were:

1) End the war

2) Focus on cost of living/inflation

3) Put America First

4) Change our relationship to Israel

"Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats. This is according to a pollster who nailed the results. While many spent Monday attacking Rachel Campos Duffy for calling for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, it turns out her political advice was sound. (She’s also a great person.)

"In the next few months, there's going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I'm open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you.

"The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. 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. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.

"I remain hopeful about our country. To the people who are p****d off and want to say, “I told you so”: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just p****d at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country."