President Donald Trump said “a lot of people” were unhappy with JD Vance’s criticism of the Iran war, while challenging his vice president to answer a question after Republicans suffered a devastating defeat in the midterm elections.
Trump maintained that his relationship with Vance remained solid, even though the vice president had publicly blamed the eight-month conflict for the party’s poor election performance.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One for Washington, D.C., on Sunday night, Trump said Vance had omitted one crucial point: whether he would support going to war with Iran if he were given the choice again.
Asked whether Vance’s criticism had strained their relationship, Trump dismissed the suggestion.
“No, not at all. But a lot of people didn’t like his comments, but not me,” the president said.
Trump argued that Vance was correct on nearly every point, except that he had failed to address whether the military campaign itself was worth pursuing.
“If you had to do it again, would you do it again? The answer is ‘yes,’” Trump said.
“I can tell you, if I had to do it again, historically, for history, this will go down as one of the best things we ever did because if they ever had a nuclear weapon, they would blow up the world. You know why? ’Cause they’re crazy.”
President Donald Trump said Sunday night that “a lot of people” objected to JD Vance’s comments blaming the Iran war for the Republicans’ midterm defeat
Trump said his relationship with Vice President JD Vance remained strong despite their differing views on the controversial Iran conflict. The two are pictured in July of this year
The Iran war has become a serious political liability for the Trump administration, with Vance attributing the GOP’s heavy election losses in part to the conflict. Smoke and flames rise from an oil depot in Tehran after airstrikes in March
Trump’s comments came hours after he faced similar questions during a wide-ranging interview with CBS 60 Minutes, where he acknowledged that Vance’s explanation for the Republican defeat might not be wrong.
Throughout the interview, Trump sought to minimize any suggestion of a serious break with his vice president.
When correspondent Ross Douthat asked whether he agreed with Vance’s election analysis, including his criticism of the United States’ relationship with Israel, Trump replied: “I don’t disagree.”
The president then returned to the question he believed Vance had left unanswered about the Iran war.
“The only thing I wish he would’ve said there, if he felt it—and you’d have to ask him about that—is, ‘If you had to do it again, would you do it?’” Trump said.
“You know, he was part of a decision-making process, and my answer is an emphatic ‘yes’ because you can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump conceded that the decision might not deliver immediate political benefits, but argued that its long-term importance would be recognized by history.
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“I think historically this will be a very good decision. Is it a good decision for today and tomorrow? Maybe not, but you know I have to go with what’s right for our country,” he said.
In his Sunday interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, Trump said he did not reject Vance’s election analysis but insisted history would ultimately vindicate the decision to attack Iran
Vance said former Trump supporters had turned away from Republicans over the Iran war, rising costs and the U.S. relationship with Israel. He is pictured in Texas last month
Trump continued to argue that allowing Iran to develop a nuclear weapon would have represented a far more serious failure.
Vance, considered a leading potential contender for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, surprised political observers on Wednesday by directly attributing the GOP’s loss of both chambers of Congress to the war.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote in a lengthy post on X.
The vice president pointed to polling indicating that Americans who backed Trump in 2024 had soured on Republicans over the conflict, the rising cost of living and the administration’s relationship with Israel.
Vance said a pollster had identified four key demands among disenchanted Trump voters: ending the war, confronting inflation, pursuing an America First agenda and changing the nation’s relationship with Israel.
“Our voters showed up. And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats,” Vance wrote.
He also urged supporters of the military campaign to acknowledge the political damage caused by the conflict.
“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,” he wrote. “Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.”
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday night
Trump challenged Vance to say whether he would support launching the Iran war again, while making clear that he would repeat the decision
The unusually blunt statement fueled speculation that Vance was seeking to distance himself from Trump’s increasingly unpopular foreign policy as he considers a possible presidential campaign.
Iran has consistently insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful, although international inspectors have expressed concern about the country’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Diplomatic initiatives have so far failed to secure a lasting resolution to the conflict.
Trump has also warned that U.S. forces have identified dozens of Iranian infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges, that could be attacked if major hostilities resume.
American forces have continued limited military operations, including strikes on Iranian air defenses, even as efforts to restore diplomacy move forward.
