Trump says Vance blaming the Iran war for the midterm losses is ‘largely true’

JD Vance posted his post-mortem on X on Wednesday: “The reason we lost is the war.” Later that day, at the White House, a reporter put it to the man who launched the war. Trump’s verdict on Vance’s verdict: “I think it’s largely true.”

His explanation was that the war “drove the gasoline up a little bit short term.” Would he do it again? Yes, he said, because long term “it’s the only answer.” Was it worth it? “You have no choice. I mean, I thought the oil would go up a lot more.”

So the plan was priced for worse news at the pump. Except later in the same remarks he said: “I knew the war was going to impact it, but whether it impacted or not, Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.” He knew it would hurt, and he also thought it would hurt more. Either way, AP called the House and the Senate for Democrats.

Earlier this week, on Hannity, the Iran war was “not much of a war.” It turns out to have been war enough to cost his party Congress, by his own vice president’s count and now, largely, by his.