US President Donald Trump speaks to announce that the US had begun “major combat operations” in Iran, in an unknown location, in this screengrab from a video released Feb. 28, 2026. Photo: Donald Trump via Truth Social/Handout via REUTERS

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the Iran war has been worth it despite acknowledging its role in losses in US midterm elections in which his Republican party lost control of Congress.

“The Iran thing we had to do, and we continue to do it,” he told reporters.

The Iran war was responsible for a spike in gasoline prices that were seen as a strong factor in why Democrats made big gains in the elections.

Trump said the war has been worth it to stop Tehran from “having a nuclear weapon.”

He said he was okay with Vice President JD Vance’s social media post earlier on Wednesday in which Vance distanced himself from Trump’s war and blamed it for deep electoral losses.

“I can tell you that as far as that war is concerned, I would have done nothing different,” Trump said.

Trump also said that if he had been on the ballot, he believed “we would have won.”

“But they just, you couldn’t transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies, it was incredible and we weren’t able to transfer the love to candidates,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Vance questioned the worth of the Iran war and largely blamed it for the stinging electoral rebuke by voters that delivered control of Congress to Democrats.

Vance’s extraordinary remarks in a post on X could further complicate Trump‘s deliberations as he weighs whether to restart major combat operations against Iran, a step US officials have told Reuters is still under consideration.

They also raise questions about the political fortunes of senior Pentagon officials, most notably Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth is already deeply unpopular in Congress, where some lawmakers are expected to seek his impeachment.

“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance said on X.

“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 also said an earlier recommendation to end the war was “sound advice.”

Democrats secured control of both the Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday, scoring sweeping victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations.

Voters in conservative ​bastions who had propelled the president to his second term in office just two years ago swung dramatically toward Democrats, fueled by deep frustration over the war with Iran, anxiety over the high cost of living, and anger at ‌Trump‘s stewardship of the country.

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 on Tuesday. But Trump‘s comments were far more measured, saying the Iran war was only one of multiple reasons.

“I ​did the right thing,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal. “I would have done it again.”

Trump told both the Journal and Fox News that the war was “part” or a “piece” of why Republicans lost on Tuesday.

The war, now in its ninth month, has been unpopular among Americans since it began. On the campaign trail, Democratic candidates across the country blamed the conflict for driving up the cost of gas and other goods.

Some political commentators have noted that Trump’s approval ratings began to sink last year following his imposition of a sweeping package of import tariffs that hit countries around the world. The tariffs, which helped lead to price hikes, preceded the Iran war by several months.