After midterm loss, Trump is left to weigh his next move in Iran war that contributed to GOP debacle

Houston Chronicle · AAMER MADHANI, LINLEY SANDERS, SAMY MAGDY and MATTHEW LEE · 2026-11-05 22:05 UTC

President Donald Trump faces a tough decision on his unpopular war against Iran after the Republican Party's midterm losses. He had hinted at escalating the conflict if Tehran didn't meet his terms by...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As he takes stock of his Republican Party's midterm drubbing, President Donald Trump now faces the difficult question of what to do about his unpopular 8-month-old war against Iran.

For weeks, Trump has threatened to return to a full-scale bombardment of Iran once the U.S. elections were in the rearview mirror if Tehran did not come to a settlement under terms acceptable to him.

In his first comments on Wednesday after Democrats' resounding election victory — a wave powered in part by the American electorate's dissatisfaction with the war — Trump largely agreed with Vice President JD Vance, who publicly ruminated on the war being a catastrophe for Republicans.

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