Donald Trump initially says he agrees with JD Vance about the GOP midterm collapse. But now he says: ‘A lot of people didn’t like his comments’

President Donald Trump responded Sunday evening to comments from Vice President JD Vance about the Republican Party’s losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to Mediaite. Vance had blamed the Iran War for the results. Even though Trump had agreed with his Veep’s assessment, this time he said that “a lot of people didn’t like his comments.”

Tuesday’s voting left Democrats with reasons to celebrate in races across the country. Republicans held narrow wins only in the Florida governor’s race and the state’s Senate contest. Democrats gained enough seats in Congress to take majority control of both the House and the Senate, even after a Trump-backed redistricting effort in several red states.

Other races that had been viewed as safely Republican also shifted. In Texas, Democrats won all statewide offices, multiple judicial posts, and control of the state House. Trump reacted with anger on his Truth Social account. He criticized opponents and pointed to earlier wins. Several senior Justice Department officials resigned, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was replaced by Stephen Miller on Friday.

Vance blames the Iran War in a post the morning after the election

The morning after the vote, Vance published a long post examining the losses. He wrote that “The reason we lost is the war” and added that “The president himself said so last night.”

Vance continued by asking whether the outcome was an acceptable trade-off. He 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.”

Some observers described the post as an effort to improve Vance’s standing for the 2028 Republican nomination, which they viewed as weaker than that of other possible candidates after the midterms. Commentators on the right also called the remarks “disloyal” to the president. Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and a former Republican National Committee chair, said Vance had raised issues that were “important for the future” of the party.

CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak stated that Trump was “making clear that he is not going to leave the stage quietly” after the losses. Liptak noted signs that the period ahead was “certainly setting up to be a combative end to the Trump era in a lot of ways,” pointing to the possibility of impeachment proceedings against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the appointment of Miller as chief of staff.

Liptak said this stage of Trump’s second term appeared likely to be “quite a volatile phase.” He described the president as moving “to put some of these hardliners into the senior most positions in the West Wing” and showing “no sign that he is looking for conciliation or compromise as Democrats take over their majorities in Congress.”

Liptak identified the Iran War as “one of the dividing lines that you’re starting to see within the president’s factions,” referring to Vance’s post. He said that “Initially, President Trump seemed like he was fine with that assessment” and “he said that he largely agreed with the vice president.” Liptak added that “just in the last hour, the president has offered a much more qualified assessment of JD Vance’s essay about the Iran war and the elections.”

In a clip filmed on a tarmac in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday evening, a reporter asked Trump whether “JD Vance’s comments about Iran, questioning some of those decisions, has that impacted your relationship at all?”

Trump answered: “No, not at all,” but then said that “a lot of people didn’t like his comments, but not me. He was right, other than one thing, he should have made one other statement, one statement at I think is very important. ‘If you had it to do again, would you do it again?’ The answer is yes. I can tell you, if I had it to do it again, this historically – for history will go down as one of the best things we ever did.”

Liptak described the remarks as a “striking rebuke” of Vance. He said the war issue “could be potentially dividing” among other senior advisers to the president. Liptak also reported a “real fear” among White House officials that Republicans who feel they have little left to lose, “including many Republicans who did in fact lose,” may become “much more supportive” of efforts to impeach Hegseth and “much less loyal to President Trump, potentially, as they face down this political reckoning.”