Did Trump blame the Iran war for the Republicans losing the 2026 midterms?

Partly. BBC North America editor Sarah Smith reports that Donald Trump, asked about the result, conceded the war with Iran was one reason Republicans lost both the House and the Senate, but said he would do it again because Iran cannot be allowed a nuclear weapon. He also claimed Republicans would have won had he been on the ballot.

• Trump admitted he expected oil prices to rise much further than they did when he went to war.
• Trump said he accepts the result and does not want to spend his last two years only vetoing bills.

▸In their words

“You have no choice. You have to do it. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon.” Donald Trump · at 4:08 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Global News Podcast (2026-11-05). Read the whole episode summary →

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