Vance: Iran War Cost GOP Senate; Trump Says It Was Worth It

Approximately 60% of voters told The AP Voter Poll that the United States made the wrong decision by taking military action against Iran. That figure formed the backdrop for a public split between Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Vance used a lengthy social media post to attribute the Republican Party's heavy losses in Tuesday's midterm elections directly to the unpopular conflict.

Vance, who has previously signaled he will decide on a 2028 presidential run after the election, argued that the cost of the war was too high. He 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." He identified the war, the cost of living, and the relationship with Israel as the primary reasons for the defeat. Vance stated that the real reason for the loss was "obvious to almost everyone."

President Trump maintained his defense of the campaign. During an impromptu tour of the White House ballroom under construction on Wednesday morning, Trump told reporters, "The Iran thing, we had to do and we continue to do it." He acknowledged that he knew the war would impact the midterms. When asked about Vance's post, Trump called it "good" and said, "I think it was fine."

Vance has historically favored restraint in overseas military intervention. As a former Marine who served in Iraq, he had been critical of that conflict and promised no "open-ended conflicts" from a Trump administration. After the war began this past spring, Vance was notably quiet, a shift from his usual role as a vocal defender of the president. In summer interviews, he attempted to justify the conflict, telling Megyn Kelly that transforming the Middle East was fundamentally worth it.

Polling data from the survey of more than 100,000 voters showed a sharp partisan divide. Nearly all voters who supported a Democratic House candidate said the war was the wrong decision. In contrast, roughly 80% of those who backed a Republican candidate said it was the right decision. However, the war was not the top issue for most of the electorate. Only about one-third of voters considered the conflict crucial to their congressional vote, a lower figure than the roughly half who cited the cost of living or government corruption.

Vance also sought distance from the administration's immigration crackdown. He wrote that he is open to changing enforcement to focus on businesses that hire illegal labor. He rejected proposals for amnesty for people living in the country illegally. The post followed a Tuesday in which Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate, defeating Republican candidates in districts that Trump carried by wide margins two years ago.