Vance and the Iran War After the Midterms: Tehran Responds, Hegseth Under Pressure

After the post in which US Vice President JD Vance blamed the war in Iran for the Republican defeat in the midterm elections, the story has seen new developments: Tehran has responded and, according to sources inside the party cited by the American media, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is under increasing pressure.¹² On the day of the post, Wednesday, November 4, Trump said the war must go on and that he will not fire Hegseth.³⁴

What Vance wrote

In a long post on X, Vance wrote that “the reason we lost is the war” and that the president himself had admitted it the night before.⁵⁶ He then challenged those who see it differently: if anyone argues that the war was worth it, and that losing the Senate for six years was worth it, they should say so openly.⁵³ Vance explained that “many people who voted Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for the Democrats in 2026.” He cited a pollster who estimates that the war and the economy were decisive factors in voters abandoning the party.⁶³ Asked what would bring them back, these voters gave four main answers: end the war, address the cost of living and inflation, put America first and change the relationship with Israel. So Vance reports.³

What the midterms are

The midterms are the elections held halfway through a presidential term, in which Congress is renewed: that is why Vance speaks of voters who chose Trump in 2024 and changed their vote in 2026. The elections held on November 3 gave the Democrats control of Congress by wide margins.⁶³¹

Trump’s response and Tehran’s

The day before, Trump had told the Wall Street Journal that Iran “was a part” of the defeat, adding that he had no regrets.⁵ Asked about Vance’s post, he called the argument “largely true” because the war pushed up the price of gasoline. He added, however, that he would do it again, because “you can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”³² Trump also said he knows how Vance thinks and that he found his statement “good.”² Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, replied that the United States has lost its “gambler’s energy” and “cannot get up from the table.”² Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei declared that neither shifts in political alignment in Washington nor concessions will be enough to end American hostility toward Iran.⁴

Hegseth and Congress

Trump ruled out firing Hegseth, a staunch supporter of the war: “I think he’s doing a great job.”³¹ On Thursday, sources inside the party told CNN and the Washington Post that Hegseth feels the pressure from criticism that the conflict cost the party the elections. According to CNN, several Republicans, speaking anonymously, say that many in the party are turning against him. Hegseth has promised to stay until the end of Trump’s term.¹ The Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said the war “must end” and that the new majority could use its control of public funds to push in that direction.³

Why it matters

According to the Guardian and the Straits Times, the post serves Vance as a way to distance himself from an unpopular war ahead of a possible White House run in 2028, which he has not yet announced. The two outlets write that the defeat calls into question his status as frontrunner for the Republican nomination.⁵⁶

This article was written by artificial intelligence from the sources cited, without human review. Automatic newsroom by Redazia.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Pete Hegseth under fire as Republicans trade blame for midterm debacle, Deutsche Welle, 2026-11-05 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Vance blames Iran war for election loss, draws Iranian retort, CGTN, 2026-11-05 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. US Vice President JD Vance says Iran war is ‘the reason we lost’ midterms, Dawn, 2026-11-04 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

4. Trump says Iran war will continue as Tehran shows no retreat, CGTN, 2026-11-05 ↩ ↩²

5. JD Vance says US war on Iran is ‘real reason’ Republicans lost midterm elections, The Guardian · World, 2026-11-04 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. US V-P Vance says Iran war is ‘the reason we lost’ midterms, The Straits Times · World, 2026-11-04 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴