Donald Trump Defends Iran War as He Takes Aim at JD Vance's Remarks on Conflict: 'A Lot of People Didn't Like His Comments'
Donald Trump has pushed back on comments made by veep J.D. Vance regarding the Iran war.
Nov. 9 2026, Published 10:51 a.m. ET
Donald Trump has defended his decision to go to war with Iran after Vice President J.D. Vance blamed the conflict on the midterm elections disaster, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The president, 80, increased rumors of tension between himself and the veep by pushing back on comments Vance made on social media regarding the war.
Trump Questions Vance Social Media Comments
Trump says Vance should have worded his comments differently.
Trump stated Vance, 42, should have commented on whether he would make the same decision again while giving his opinion on the controversial move.
Speaking to reporters in Washington on Sunday night, Trump said: "He was right, other than one thing."
"He should have made one other statement," the president added — posing the question to himself: "'If you had it to do again, would you do it again?' The answer is yes."
The Commander-in-Chief insisted Vance's comments had not affected their relationship, but did suggest they had not been well received by all.
He said: "A lot of people didn't like his comments. But not me."
President Stands By His Decision — Despite Vance's Comments
The president does not regret decision to go to war with Iran.
In an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes that aired Sunday night, Trump said he didn't know whether Vance would make the same call again. His own answer, he said, was "an emphatic yes, because you can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon."
The president’s comments come after Vance, on Wednesday, wrote "the reason we lost is the war," in a lengthy post after Democrats won both chambers of Congress.
He challenged Republicans who backed the war to say whether it was worth losing the Senate and argued that many voters who backed Trump in 2024 had switched to Democrats.
'Everyone Knows Why We Lost'
Vance was clear on his thoughts regarding Midterms hammering.
The veep wrote: "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.
"But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there."
While many political pundits were shocked to see Vance call out the president, Trump's son, Don Jr., approved as well, retweeting the entire message and enthusiastically commenting, "Every word of this is..."
Vance wasn't the only one among Trump's supposed allies to express surprise at the election results.
Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, one of the president's most loyal supporters, confessed that Republicans had a historically bad showing Tuesday night, especially among male voters.
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Donald Trump Jr. appeared to back Vance's stance.
Men typically make up one of the strongest MAGA demographics, but Tuesday's elections revealed that loyalty seems to be evaporating.
According to NBC News exit polling, male voters were split almost evenly between Republican and Democratic candidates. That's a significant swing from the 2024 presidential elections, which saw Trump win the male vote by a whopping 12 percentage points.
In that race, Trump won 55 percent of male voters, compared with Kamala Harris's 43 percent. The reversal seemed to stun Bannon.
"That can’t be right," he said during the election-night broadcast on Real America's Voice. "That’s a massive problem. That will roll through and have consequences."
