Trump admits the Iran war was one of the reasons behind the midterm election defeat
President Donald Trump has acknowledged that the United States and Israel's war against Iran played a role in his party's dismal defeat in the midterm elections. He admitted this in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
In the midterm elections that ended on Tuesday, Democrats gained control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
In the Fox News interview, Trump said, “I think one of the reasons was Iran.” In a separate comment to the Wall Street Journal, he said, “Iran was part of it.”
Yet despite the Republicans' defeat in Tuesday's election and his campaign promise of “no new wars,” Trump defended the decision to attack Iran.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he said, “I did the right thing. I would do it again.”
The nine-month-long war was unpopular with Americans from the start. During the election campaign, Democratic candidates across the country alleged that the conflict had pushed up the prices of fuel oil and other goods.
Trump has spoken of different goals and timelines for the war at different times; at times he threatened to intensify US military strikes, and at other times he said he could end the conflict at any moment.
In Tehran, the US election result was received with satisfaction. In a message posted on X on Wednesday, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, “Americans said ‘no’ to war, and we support this message.”
