US President Donald Trump speaks on the day the final steel beam goes into the ballroom, at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 4, 2026. | Photo Credit: Evan Vucci

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said it was “largely true” that the war in Iran cost the Republicans heavy losses in the midterm election, but struck a defiant note, saying he would do it again as it was the “only answer” in the “long term”.

“Well, I think it’s largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term,” Trump told reporters when asked about Vice President J D Vance’s remarks that the Iran war led to Republican losses in the election.

“But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again. Because long term, it’s the only answer. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

The president insisted that the US would have done nothing different as far as the war was concerned.

“But I can tell you that as far as that war is concerned, I would have done nothing different. We’ve totally broken their military. The navy’s gone. Their air force is gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone,” Trump said.

“The Iran thing, we had to do, and we continue to do it. We have tremendous oil flowing out of the Hormuz Strait now. At the beginning, there was none. And, probably that’s the primary reason – the price, not the war, the price (of oil),” Trump said.

Trump backs Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth

The president also said that he was not considering replacing Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, despite public dissatisfaction with the war with Iran.

Hegseth is “doing a great job”, he said.

JD Vance blames Iran war for Republican losses

Vice President JD Vance, often eyed as Trump’s likely successor at the White House, blamed the president’s war in Iran for Republicans’ midterm wipeout.

Published on November 5, 2026