WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump acknowledged on Wednesday that the Iran war and higher fuel prices contributed to Republican midterm losses, but defended the conflict and backed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Democrats won control of both the Senate and House of Representatives in Tuesday’s elections, leaving Trump facing divided government when the new Congress takes office in January.
Trump broadly agreed with Vice President JD Vance’s assessment that the war had damaged Republicans at the ballot box. However, he maintained that he would make the same decision again, arguing that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon justified his approach.
Vance delivered a sharper verdict in a post on X.
“The reason we lost is the war,” he wrote, while pointing to Trump’s own acknowledgement of the conflict’s electoral cost.
Asked whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, Trump told reporters: “No, I think he’s doing a very good job.”
The Pentagon separately said Hegseth remained committed to leading the department through the end of Trump’s term in January 2029.
Voter research pointed to substantial opposition to the conflict, alongside broader economic concerns. About six in 10 voters considered military action against Iran the wrong decision, according to the AP Voter Poll, which surveyed more than 100,000 voters.
About one-third said the war was crucial to their congressional vote, compared with roughly half who cited living costs or government corruption.
Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Centre for International Policy, told AFP that further escalation offered Trump no clear route to victory and risked deepening the political damage. Diplomacy, he argued, provided a possible exit.
James Lindsay, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, cautioned that Republican losses reflected dissatisfaction extending beyond Iran. He linked the conflict to higher petrol and diesel costs but also pointed to voters’ broader frustration over affordability.
Lindsay warned that renewed attacks could prompt Iranian retaliation against installations across the Gulf and widen the conflict.
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Meanwhile, Charles Hall, executive director of the North Carolina Soybean Producers Association, described the pressure that high energy costs had placed on farmers.
Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries called for an end to the war. Toossi said their party’s coming control of congressional oversight and funding would further constrain Trump’s choices.
(With additional input from Reuters and The Associated Press.)
