US Vice-President JD Vance has publicly broken with President Donald Trump over the war in Iran, blaming the conflict for the Republican Party’s sweeping defeat in Tuesday’s midterm elections and questioning whether the war was worth the cost.
In a lengthy post on X on Wednesday, Vance said the war was the reason Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress, in the clearest public split yet between the vice-president and the president over a conflict Trump still defends.
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote. “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, who is widely seen as a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, also said an earlier recommendation to end the war was “sound advice”. He had long advocated restraint on military intervention overseas and became the face of an unsuccessful attempt to bring the fighting to an end after Trump launched the war jointly with Israel in February, predicting a brief conflict.
The remarks could complicate Trump’s deliberations as he weighs whether to restart major combat operations against Iran, a step US officials have told Reuters remains under consideration. They also raise questions about the political fortunes of senior Pentagon officials, most notably Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is deeply unpopular in Congress, where some lawmakers are expected to seek his impeachment.
Vance sought to play down any difference of opinion with Trump, saying the president had also acknowledged that the Iran war cost Republicans the midterm elections. But Trump’s own comments were far more measured, describing the war as only one of several reasons for the defeat. “I did the right thing,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal. “I would have done it again.”
Democrats secured control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday, scoring sweeping victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations. Voters in conservative areas that propelled Trump to a second term two years ago swung dramatically toward Democrats, driven by deep frustration over the war, anxiety about the high cost of living and anger at Trump’s stewardship of the country.
Polling underlines how heavily the war weighed on voters. About six in ten said the United States made the “wrong decision” in taking military action against Iran, according to the AP Voter Poll, a survey of more than 100,000 voters, while an NBC News exit poll found 74 per cent said the war was a crucial or major factor in their vote. Only 37 per cent said the United States made the right decision to take military action.
One person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Vance’s comments could be seen as the start of his 2028 campaign. Trump said on Wednesday that he had spoken to Vance that morning and, asked about the vice-president’s post, called it “good”, adding: “I know how he feels about it” and “I think it was fine.”
Sources: Reuters, “Vance repudiates Iran war after US electoral defeat”, https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/vance-repudiates-iran-war-after-us-electoral-defeat-2026-11-04/ ; PA Media, “Vance tries to distance himself from Iran war after party’s losses in election”, https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/national/26700617.vance-tries-distance-iran-war-partys-losses-election/
