Vance blames Iran war for midterm losses as rifts open in Trump administration

A vice president breaks ranks

Vice President J.D. Vance has publicly distanced himself from the war with Iran and from President Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, 4 November, a day after Republicans lost ground in the midterm elections held on Tuesday, 3 November. According to the paper, Vance ties his political future to keeping together the coalition Trump built, yet he has pointed to the war as a reason his party lost, including in states that had not sent a Democrat to the Senate for decades. In a long post on X that Wednesday, Vance wrote that the reason Republicans lost was the war and that the president had said as much himself. He listed the four main reasons voters gave pollsters: ending the war, the cost of living and inflation, putting America First, and changing relations with Israel. Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, endorsed the post and wrote that every word of it was true.

A quarrel over the war inside the White House

According to the Wall Street Journal, Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had for weeks pushed for a diplomatic end to the conflict. Some White House advisers blame Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for persuading Trump that the war would be a short and easy operation, similar to the operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The paper reports that Hegseth repeatedly argued for continuing the war, often against Rubio, Vance and other officials. Trump agreed with Vance that the war had damaged the Republicans' electoral result, but he said the war was worth it. Despite the criticism aimed at the Pentagon chief, the president still hesitates to dismiss Hegseth.

Strikes kept out of view before the vote

In September, senior administration officials held a meeting on how unpopular the war was with American voters, and Vance and Rubio attended. Officials agreed that publicizing continued attacks, both defensive and offensive, would hurt Republicans in states where their electoral position was under threat. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that Trump was informed of this approach and accepted it. In the following weeks, the US military quietly carried out small strikes inside Iran, hitting missile launchers and other military equipment while avoiding fatalities, the paper reported. The White House had reportedly worked to keep the scale of military action secret before the election.

Reactions and the wider picture

Polish libertarian figure Janusz Korwin-Mikke wrote on X that a vice president criticizing the president was highly un-American. Trump also reportedly blamed Fox News for showing too many statements by Democrats, as well as by Republicans. A White House representative said the president knew the content of Vance's message before it was published, although it remained unclear whether the post had been cleared with the administration. Polling reportedly shows that voter discontent extends beyond the war to rising living costs and the White House's policies. Trump has said that if he had to do it again, he would, because Iran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons.