Asked by reporters whether Vance’s post-election assessment had created tension between them, Trump responded: “No, not at all. But a lot of people didn’t like his comments. But not me.”
Following the Republicans’ electoral setbacks last week, Vance issued a lengthy statement on social media, blaming the party’s defeats directly on the military conflict with Iran and arguing that voters had expressed their dissatisfaction at the ballot box.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote, challenging critics to defend the political consequences of the conflict.
“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest,” he added.
The vice president’s comments attracted considerable criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.
Trump had previously acknowledged during an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the eight-month military campaign against Iran “was a piece of it” in explaining the election results.
However, during a separate appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes, he defended the decision to launch the military campaign, insisting that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons justified the political consequences.
“I can tell you, if I had it to do again, this historically, for history, will go down as one of the best things we ever did,” Trump said.
He added that allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons during his presidency would have attracted even greater criticism.
“If they had a nuclear weapon during my term, I would be excoriated far worse than what happened. I’ve stopped them from having a nuclear weapon. That’s a big thing,” he stated.
Addressing Vance’s widely circulated social media post, Trump also revealed that the vice president had consulted him before publishing the statement.
“He asked me, ‘What do I think?’ I said, ‘Write what you feel,'” the president recalled.
Meanwhile, Trump left open the possibility of further military action against Iran if diplomatic efforts fail, although he suggested that a resumption of hostilities was unlikely if ongoing peace negotiations made progress.
