Trump says Vance was right that Iran war cost Republicans the midterms

US President Donald Trump said he did not object to Vice President JD Vance's view that the war with Iran hurt Republicans in the midterm elections, while insisting that the war itself was the right decision. The Times of Israel reported that Trump made the comments to journalists in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 8, 2026, ahead of a flight on Air Force One, and that he was repeating a position he had already taken.

According to that report, Trump acknowledged that many people had disliked what Vance said, though he was not one of them, and said of Vance: "He was right." His one reservation, he said, was that Vance should also have stated that, given the choice again, the administration would go to war again. Trump said his answer to that question was yes, and argued that the decision would be seen historically as among the best the United States had made, because Iran with a nuclear weapon would, in his words, "blow up the world."

How the first Israeli reports framed it

The Israeli broadcaster N12 carried the story on its Telegram news channel through its foreign desk, and its framing changed over the course of the night. N12's first item said Trump had distanced himself from Vance's remarks about the effect of the Iran war on the midterms, citing only the line that many people had not liked what Vance said. A later edited version replaced that wording, saying instead that the president had referred to, or addressed, Vance's comments.

A subsequent N12 item gave a fuller picture closer to the Times of Israel account. N12 reported that Trump said he did not dispute Vance's analysis that the war was the reason for the election loss, while stressing that he would "absolutely" do it again and that Iran must not be allowed to hold a nuclear weapon. Read in full, the remarks do not show Trump distancing himself from his vice president on the question of why Republicans lost; they show him accepting that explanation while defending the war.

Where Trump made the remarks

The two organisations attribute the comments to different settings. The Times of Israel places them in an exchange with reporters at the West Palm Beach airport. N12's later item credits the American news programme 60 Minutes, broadcast in Israel by the satellite television provider yes. The reports do not explain whether Trump made similar statements in both places or whether one account has the venue wrong. The wording of the quotes in each report also differs slightly, which may reflect translation into Hebrew.

What Vance had said

Neither organisation quotes Vance directly. The Times of Israel summarises his position as an assertion that the Iran war, together with Washington's ties with Israel, cost the Republican Party the midterm elections. N12 describes it more narrowly, as an analysis that the war was the cause of the loss, without mentioning Israel.

For readers outside the United States: midterm elections are the national congressional elections held partway through a president's term, and they are widely read as a verdict on the administration in power. A sitting vice president publicly linking his own party's defeat to a war launched by his own administration is unusual, which helps explain the attention to how Trump would respond.

Why it matters for Israel

The reference to Israel in Vance's reported comments is what makes this story significant for an Israeli and diaspora audience. If senior figures in the Republican Party come to see the alliance with Israel, or a war fought alongside it, as a political cost at home, that would be a notable development in American politics. Trump's remarks, as reported, defended the war against Iran on the grounds of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran; neither report records him addressing the part of Vance's argument about ties with Israel.

The Times of Israel also noted that Trump had raised the economic toll of the Iran war before, saying it was not enough to make him regret launching it, and that he believed Vance should have made the same point.

What the reports do not say

• Neither report quotes Vance's original remarks or says when and where he made them.
• No response from Vance to Trump's comments has been reported.
• The reports do not resolve whether the remarks came from the airport exchange, the 60 Minutes appearance, or both.
• Trump is not reported to have said anything about Vance's point on Washington's relationship with Israel.