Vice-President JD Vance blamed his party's midterm election defeat squarely on the Iran war in a 600-word statement posted Wednesday, attributed by multiple outlets as an effort to distance himself from President Donald Trump ahead of a potential 2028 White House run.
Vance wrote that "the reason we lost is the war" and noted that Trump's 2024 voters had deserted Republicans. He challenged party members to defend the decision: "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." The statement did not name Trump directly.
Trump acknowledged the war played a factor in Democrats flipping control of the House and Senate but said he would "do it again" if given the same choices. He told reporters about Vance's critique: "I know how he feels about it. I think it was fine. I knew that when I went in, and we stopped them from having a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon."
According to The New York Times, Vance showed the message to Trump before posting it online. The moment marks an unusual instance of a sitting vice-president breaking sharply with a president on a signature foreign policy issue, according to the BBC. Daniel Byman, a foreign policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described Vance's statement as "a way of separating himself from Trump."
Vance also offered a four-point political roadmap: end the war, focus on cost of living and inflation, put America first, and change relations with Israel. Republican strategist Ashley Davis said Vance "put his toe in the water to see what he's going to do."
Vance is expected to run for president in 2028 but has not made an official decision. Trump has not said whether he would endorse Vance or other potential successors.