JD Vance says Iran war hurt GOP in midterms as Trump reshuffles senior White House staff
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Vice President JD Vance argued that the Iran conflict contributed to Republican midterm losses, while President Donald Trump moved quickly to replace senior White House adviser Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller.
Vice President JD Vance attributed the Republican loss in Tuesday’s midterm elections to the war in Iran, calling for the conflict to end and urging the party to concentrate on affordability, foreign-policy reassessment and reforms to the U.S.–Israel relationship. His comments, posted on social media on Wednesday, were the first time the vice president publicly supported ending the war.
According to two sources familiar with White House and vice-presidential communications, senior adviser Susie Wiles had advance knowledge of Vance’s message. On Friday, President Donald Trump replaced Wiles with Stephen Miller as part of a broader senior-staff reshuffle.
Trump acknowledged that high gas prices linked to the Iran war had hurt Republican candidates, but he defended the intervention, saying, "I would have done nothing different." He did not confirm whether he had been briefed on Vance’s post before it was published.
Donald Trump Jr. and other conservative allies expressed support for Vance’s assessment on social media. Republican strategist Michael Ricci said the vice president’s remarks have sparked debate within the party about the war and the principles future presidential contenders should adopt.
While Vance has not indicated whether he will run for president in 2028, party officials see him as a potential contender who must balance inheriting Trump’s coalition with distancing himself from the president’s political liabilities. Democrats, meanwhile, are preparing to link any future Republican nominee to Trump in upcoming campaigns.
Vance’s campaign focused on economic nationalism, foreign-policy restraint and public safety, deliberately avoiding direct references to Trump in speeches delivered after the Republican convention. He also highlighted issues such as fraud investigations in federal healthcare and antipoverty programs, linking them to cost-of-living concerns.
Other potential 2028 Republican candidates, including Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, as well as Governors Ron DeSantis and others, have offered their own analyses of the midterm defeat, citing affordability, cultural issues and emerging technologies as areas needing attention.