President Trump on Sunday criticized one specific omission in Vice President JD Vance’s sharply worded assessment of the Republicans’ midterm losses, which Vance attributed largely to the war in Iran.
Asked whether Vance’s public post-election analysis had affected their relationship, Trump acknowledged that “a lot of people didn’t like his comments.”
“No, not at all, but a lot of people didn’t like his comments, but not me,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“He was right, other than one thing,” the president said. “He should have made one other statement, one which I think is very important. If you had it to do again, would you do it again? The answer is yes.”
“Historically, this will go down as one of the best things we ever did because if they [Iran] ever had a nuclear weapon, they would blow up the world. You know why? Because they’re crazy,” Trump added.
Vance criticized the Republican “establishment” in a 618-word post on X Wednesday, after Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress and won a majority of state governorships.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night. If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next six years was worth it, then do so,” Vance wrote.
“But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there. I remain hopeful about our country,” Vance said.
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“To the people who are pissed off and want to say, ‘I told you so’: you’re right, you did tell us so.”
A Trump aide previously told The Post that the president had been “briefed beforehand” on Vance’s statement and “did not have any issues with it.”
The White House retweeted Vance’s post, and Trump offered a partial endorsement of his assessment, telling reporters, “I thought it was good.”
During a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, Trump appeared to agree with Vance’s analysis, acknowledging that some voters “didn’t like the war.”
“They didn’t like the war. They didn’t like the fact that gasoline went up, ’cause I had it down at a low,” Trump told correspondent Ross Douthat.
“And they didn’t like the war, I think mostly for that reason, because I think everyone agrees that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And they will never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
“The one thing he left out is… that I would say, and maybe he wouldn’t say it, I don’t know. I’ve never really asked him, but… if you had it to do again, would you do it? And that’s Iran. Would you go and attack Iran and take away their… because we won that war,” Trump said, reiterating his view of Vance’s remarks.
“That war has been won. Now they’re withering away as a country, and they’ll come, and they’ll make a deal.”
