WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that the war against Iran contributed to his party’s sweeping defeat in the midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, Trump said Iran was “a part of” the election outcome. In a separate interview with The Wall Street Journal, he also described the conflict as one factor behind the Republican losses.
Despite the electoral setback and his earlier campaign promise of “no new wars,” Trump defended his decision to launch attacks against Iran, saying he had made the right choice and would do so again.
The war, now in its ninth month, has remained unpopular among Americans. During the election campaign, Democratic candidates across the country argued that the conflict had contributed to rising costs of petrol and other goods.
Trump has also given varying objectives and timelines for the war, at times threatening to intensify US military strikes while suggesting that he could bring the conflict to an end at any time.