EASTORA REPORT | “I didn’t say that.” Donald Trump rejected the suggestion that he had promised to end the Iran war after the midterm elections, a day after voters delivered a defeat to Republicans.
The exchange came Wednesday at the White House, where Trump spent more than 20 minutes discussing a planned ballroom before confronting questions about the election and the conflict that had helped shape it.
The president described bulletproof glass, missile and drone protection, steel roofing and marble. He suggested the venue could one day welcome the leaders of Russia and China.
Outside the ballroom plans, the political landscape had already changed. Democrats had won control of both chambers of Congress, leaving Trump facing an opposition with power to investigate and block legislation.
Asked whether the Iran war had hurt Republicans, Trump conceded that it had. “I think it’s largely true,” he said, pointing to a short-term rise in gasoline prices.
But he rejected the idea that the political price made the campaign a mistake. “Yes. You have no choice. You have to do it,” he said when asked whether the war was worth it. He insisted Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
When asked when the war would end, Trump replied: “Whenever I wanted to.” And when confronted with the suggestion that he had said it would end immediately after the elections, he answered: “I didn’t say that.”
He also dismissed speculation that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth might be replaced. “No, I think he’s doing a very good job,” Trump said.
On the electoral defeat, Trump argued that Republican candidates had failed to inherit his personal appeal. “We weren’t able to transfer the love to the candidates,” he said.
He nevertheless left open the possibility of cooperation with Democrats, saying they had already contacted him about talks.
The contrast was hard to miss: Trump was outlining how to fortify a future White House ballroom while defending a war whose political costs had just stripped his party of Congress.
And on the question of whether that war was supposed to end once Americans had voted, his answer was four words: “I d