Trump: Iran war partially to blame for GOP midterm losses

President Trump partially blamed the ongoing war with Iran for the GOP's sweeping midterm losses in the midterms — but said he would have done it again.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal that the Middle East conflict, now in its eighth month, "was a piece of it" in an election night interview .

Gas and diesel prices have skyrocketed in the U.S. and globally since the war started in late February, increasing voter frustrations after the president campaigned on ending foreign wars in 2024. Trump told the Journal that he thought high fuel costs were the biggest factor behind his party's losses Tuesday.

Republicans suffered a historically large defeat in Tuesday's midterms, losing at least seven Senate seats, Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) projected. Two races, Mississippi and Alaska, remain uncalled as of Wednesday morning.

The GOP also lost 30 seats in the House, with more than 20 races left to be projected, according to DDHQ.

Some of the Republican candidates who faltered were ones handpicked or endorsed by Trump himself. These candidates include Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who lost to Democrat James Talarico by 12 points, and South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham (R), who lost in an upset to Democrat Annie Andrews by 4 points.

The president backed Paxton in his primary challenge against Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and supported Graham in a special primary after urging South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) to tap her to fill the seat left open by her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R).

He told the Journal that he could "only do so much" to help Republican candidates, admitting some had "flaws."

"I tried to help them," Trump said of Graham and Paxton. "Darline worked very hard, they worked hard. But they both didn't make it."

At the start of next year, the administration will be met with a more hostile Congress than what he has faced during the first two years of his term.

Trump told the Journal that he was willing to work with Democrats — similar to his sentiment after the 2018 midterms — but pointed out he retains the ability to veto any bills passed through Congress in the final two years of his presidency.

"I think we'll work with the Democrats, and we'll get along very well with them," he said. "If we don't, we'll be very tough on them, they'll be very tough on us."

The president also told the Journal and The New York Times that he would accept the results of the election, after warning of widespread fraud and cheating by his opponents in years past.