President Donald Trump said the eight month war in Iran and high gasoline prices were partly to blame for widespread Republican midterm losses on Tuesday, while maintaining he had no regrets over launching the conflict in February. “Iran was a piece of it,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal, adding, “I did the right thing. I would have done it again.” Despite internal White House finger pointing over the war, Trump told Fox News he was not planning a Cabinet shakeup and called Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “terrific.”
Speaking to the New York Times and CBS News as Democrats were projected to flip the House and gain Senate seats in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, Trump congratulated Democrats and said he was “absolutely willing to accept those results” and work with them, including on immigration. He rejected the idea that the losses were a rebuke of his presidency, writing on Truth Social that “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” and arguing that some GOP candidates were “unacceptable to the voters.” That reversed his campaign message across 28 rallies, where he urged voters to pretend his name was on the ballot.