Trump blames Israel views, Iran war and fuel prices for GOP losses
Trump said Republicans' heavy midterm losses reflected public anger over Israel, the Iran war and rising gasoline costs.
Anger over Israel, the war with Iran and higher gasoline prices drove Republicans' midterm losses, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.
In an interview with CBS News' 60 Minutes, Trump acknowledged that the war had damaged his party at the polls, especially as fuel costs climbed.
"They didn't like the war. They didn't like the fact that gasoline went up," Trump said.
He also said many Americans disliked Israel, naming that feeling alongside the war and fuel prices as the main causes of the defeat.
Despite the political cost, Trump defended his decision to strike Iran and said he would make the same choice again.
"You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon," he said.
Trump claimed the United States had won the war and that Tehran wanted a deal.
"We would have had a deal except for this election," he said, suggesting the Democratic victory had complicated talks.
Asked whether he planned to escalate the conflict after the elections, Trump said he was not seeking further escalation.
He repeated his claim that Israel would not exist without US military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in Tuesday's elections, a major setback for the administration.
US midterm elections are held two years into a president's term and decide all House seats and about a third of the Senate, so the result shapes how much Trump can pass through Congress for the rest of his term.
