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Trump hits back after JD Vance blamed Iran war for midterm election defeat
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Donald Trump has spoken out following JD Vance's lengthy statement on why the Republicans suffered a humiliating loss in the midterm elections.
Despite the President's perceived confidence, his party has fallen short, leading to him claiming that results did not go his way because he was not on the ballot.
He claimed that if he was, he'd have won 'in a landslide', having used the same excuse when the Republicans lost the House in the 2018 midterms during his first term.
The historic victory saw the Democrats win the Senate and the House, meaning the current government is what is known as a ‘lame duck’ government.
As the Democrats will soon hold the majority of seats in Congress, it means that the party will have more power to influence laws, stop Trump's plans, and have a bigger say in the US' political direction until at least 2028.
Vance took to X after the defeat, writing: "The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night."
Trump's response to Vance's claims
During a White House Q&A session, the 80-year-old has defended his administration's foreign policy.
While Trump acknowledged the effects of the Iran war on the midterms, he stated: “I knew the war was going to impact it, but whether it impacted it or not, Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
He was then asked about his Vice President's detailed X post, which claimed that the election loss was due to the war.
“Well, I know how he feels about it. I think it was fine. I thought it was good,” Trump responded.
He added: “We stopped them from having a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Speaking about whether he had any regrets in how he handled the midterm election campaign, the President insisted once again that he would have won if his name was on the ballot.
“No, look. I mean, if I were on the ballot, we would have won," he claimed to reporters, adding: "You saw the people that were packed thousands and thousands of people at every rally, and if I was on the ballot, we would have won.”
Trump insisted: “But...you just couldn't transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies. It was incredible. We weren't able to transfer the love to candidates.”
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JD Vance's statement on X
Once a catastrophic Republican loss became clear, Vance clarified via a lengthy post: "The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.
"But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there."
He also addressed voters who used their vote to hold the Trump administration accountable for the decisions made over the last two years; he admitted: "To the people who are pi***d off and want to say, 'I told you so': you're right, you did tell us so.
"Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let's take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country."
Bizarrely, the vice president also argued that he remains 'hopeful about our country.'