Trump Says He Has No Regrets Over Iran War Despite Midterm Election Risks

President Donald Trump has said he does not regret launching the war against Iran, even as the conflict and its economic fallout threaten to become a major political liability for Republicans ahead of the November U.S. midterm elections.

In an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Trump was asked whether he regretted the decision to go to war given its potential impact on Republican candidates at the polls.

“I don’t believe in the word ‘regret,’” Trump said, adding that he could “always question” himself but would make the same decision again.

“If I had it to do again, I would do exactly as I did,” the president said.

Trump has continued to defend the military campaign on the grounds that the United States must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He rejected suggestions that the conflict had demoralised his supporters, arguing that many Americans were proud of his decision to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

The president also repeated his prediction that the conflict will end immediately after the midterm elections in November.

“It ends right after the election,” Trump said, according to Reuters. He has previously suggested that Iran is attempting to influence the U.S. elections by prolonging the conflict and putting economic pressure on American voters.

The economic consequences of the conflict have increasingly complicated the Republican campaign.

Oil prices have surged as fighting and disruptions around the Middle East threaten global energy supplies. Brent crude recently moved above $100 a barrel, while average U.S. gasoline prices reached about $4.22 per gallon, according to the Associated Press. Diesel and jet-fuel prices have also risen sharply.

Trump has acknowledged the connection between the conflict and higher energy prices, while predicting that oil and gasoline prices will fall after the midterm elections. He has said the war itself is likely to end immediately after the vote.

The increase in fuel costs is particularly politically sensitive because gasoline and diesel prices directly affect household budgets, transportation, agriculture and the cost of goods. The Financial Times reported that U.S. diesel prices had reached a record $5.85 per gallon, adding to inflationary pressures ahead of the elections.

For Republicans, the challenge is to defend Trump’s Iran policy while convincing voters that the administration can bring energy costs back down. Some vulnerable Republican candidates could face pressure if voters associate higher fuel and living costs with the prolonged conflict.

The political stakes were highlighted at the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention in Dallas, where Trump urged supporters to treat the November elections as a referendum on his administration and called on them to vote as though he himself were on the ballot.

Trump’s refusal to express regret therefore places the Iran conflict at the centre of both his foreign-policy message and the Republican campaign. With the elections approaching, the outcome could depend not only on voters’ views of the war itself, but also on whether rising fuel prices and broader inflation continue to weigh on American households.