Election 2026 live results: Trump defends Iran war after Vance blames it for GOP losses

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Vice President JD Vance’s analysis that Republicans lost the midterms because of the war in Iran was “largely true,” but that he would do it again because “it’s the only answer.”

“Well, I think it's largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit, short term, and probably -- that's probably, it's true. But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I'd have to do it again because long term, it's the only answer,” Trump told reporters. “You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump said he knew Vance’s view of the war from the beginning.

“I know how he feels about it. I think it was. I think it was fine. Yeah, I thought it was good,” Trump said of Vance’s post. “I knew that when I went in, and we stopped them from having a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon.” (131934)

Asked if he felt the war was worth it, Trump said he did.

“I do. Yeah. I mean, well, you have no choice," he said.

"I can tell you that, as far as that war is concerned, I would have done nothing differently,” he later added.

The president, who blitzed the country in the final weeks of the campaign, visiting ruby-red GOP strongholds, and where Democrats handed Republicans upsets, maintained they would have won if he were on the ballot. Trump had repeatedly asked rallygoers to pretend he was on the ballot.

“No, look. I mean, if I were on the ballot, we would have won. You saw the people that were packed, thousands and thousands of people at every rally, and if I was on the ballot, we would have won, but they just -- you couldn't transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies; it was incredible. We weren't able to transfer the love to candidates.”

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa and Fritz Farrow

President Donald Trump, speaking publicly for the first time Wednesday following Republicans' significant midterm election losses, touted the construction of the White House ballroom from inside the space -- as well as other construction projects around Washington.

The president and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum signed a beam that workers attached to a chain and lifted in the ballroom.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described Tuesday's election results, which saw Democrats make massive gains in states including Texas, Iowa and South Carolina, as a "meteor strike," arguing that even a “wave” fails to capture the scale of the Republican losses.

“Last night, we witnessed, to call it a wave, I don't think would be fully accurate. It's the political equivalent of a meteor strike that went all around the United States, blue states, red states, everything in between, and the one state that was able to hold the line and withstand that is right here in the free state of Florida,” DeSantis said Wednesday in Florida.

DeSantis touted Republican candidates' success in Florida, but victory margins in many races were much closer than in previous years, as the Florida governor mentioned later on in his remarks.

DeSantis, who has not ruled out another presidential run, did not mince his words about last night’s election results for Republicans across the country, calling it a “close to an extinction-level event” for the party.

“Let's just be clear about what happened last night. This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans in many parts of the country, as we have seen, probably in the last 100 years," he said.

-ABC News Hannah Demissie

Republican Rep. Steve Scalise formally launched his bid to serve as House minority leader, according to a letter sent to colleagues on Wednesday.

"Last night’s election was far worse than any of us expected. We fought hard and left it all on the field, but clearly, we were unable to defy history. Despite all we accomplished together, we will now find ourselves in the minority along with losing some incredible friends and public servants. This is no doubt a challenging time for our conference, but overcoming adversity is nothing new to me,” Scalise wrote in a five-page letter.

Scalise said House Republicans “must be the first in line of defense in this crucial battle” against the Democrats.

“We must fight like our way of life depends on it -- because it does,” Scalise wrote.

Scalise said he is “ready” to lead the conference and “chart our path back to the majority.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that he would not run for House minority leader.

Scalise will run against GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, who announced he would run to lead the conference earlier Wednesday.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller