The blame game: Administration points finger at Iran after major GOP midterm loss

The blame game: Vance, Trump point fingers at Iran after GOP midterm loss

President Trump and Vice President Vance have both blamed the ongoing Iran war for the Republican Party’s abysmal results in the midterm elections, brushing off other issues that appeared to tank GOP candidates.

“ The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance said in a lengthy social media post.

“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. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest,” he continued.

“But everyone knows why we lost . And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”

President Trump earlier had partially blamed the Iran war for the GOP’s sweeping midterm losses , even as he stood defiant and said he would have done it again .

Later on Tuesday Trump said he knew the war would impact voting but “whether it impacted it or not Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon.”

Administration officials have quickly sought to deflect blame for Republicans’ trouncing, the likes of which has not been seen by either party in a midterm election in the last 50 years. The results are widely seen as a referendum on Trump’s presidency .

The war has sent gas and diesel prices soaring in the U.S. and globally since it began in late February, increasing voter frustrations after the president campaigned on ending foreign wars and lowering prices in 2024.

In pointing their fingers back at Trump , Republican lawmakers have said the war, the administration’s tariff policies, overfocusing on pet projects such as the White House ballroom and supporting weak candidates for the midterms ruined the GOP’s chances of keeping control of Congress.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

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The Foreign Policy Research Institute will discuss “After the midterms: Changes for U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific and Europe ,” at 9 a.m.

Brookings will hold a talk on “Israel after the elections: What’s next for U.S. Israel relations ,” at 10 a.m.

Stimson Center will host a conversation on “ The Iran war, eight months on : Reassessing costs, consequences , and U.S. interests,” at 1:30 p.m.

The Foreign Policy Research Institute will hear from Lithuanian Ambassador to the U.S. Gediminas Varvuolis on his country’s role in regional security and defense along NATO’s eastern flank at 5 p.m.

Republicans quickly turn against Pete Hegseth after midterms rout, CNN reports

Facing return to war, more Iranians want a nuclear missile, The New York Times reports

US contractor admits passing US top-secret information to Ethiopia in its war against rebels, The Associated Press reports

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