Tuesday’s overwhelming defeat of the Republican Party in the midterm elections changed the course of President Donald Trump’s ongoing war against Iran for good, according to former Israeli intelligence officer Danny Citrinowicz.
“The elections decided the fate of the war,” Citrinowicz told the New York Times after Trump’s Republican Party lost both the House and the Senate. “The only question is how it will end: with a bang, a peaceful, negotiated but likely unsatisfactory solution, or Trump saying, ‘JD Vance was right, and goodbye.’”
A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer assigned to the 345th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron is photographed after landing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, Aug. 22, 2025. Three bombers deployed for Bomber Task Force Europe with a total force integration team composed of roughly 30% active-duty and 70% reserve Airmen from the 7th Bomb Wing and 489th Bomb Group. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jade M. Caldwell)
B-1B Lancer Bomber in Museum in Dayton, Ohio. Image Credit: Harry J. Kazianis/National Security Journal.
Both Washington and Iran Are ‘Unlikely to Forget’ What Happened Here
In a social media post, Citrinowicz — who served 25 years in Israel Defense Intelligence (IDI) — added that the midterm elections would “ultimately be remembered as the turning point that brought the war with Iran to an end,” even if Trump decided to launch a final wave of strikes on Iranian territory.
“The war has exposed the vulnerability of American presidents to disruptions in Gulf energy supplies. Future administrations will have to consider how quickly a military confrontation in the Middle East can translate into higher gasoline prices, domestic political pressure, and electoral consequences,” he noted. “This experience could fundamentally change Washington’s calculations regarding military intervention in the region.”
Citrinowicz concluded, “And Tehran, having witnessed the political impact of its ability to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, is unlikely to forget the lesson either.”
Would Make ‘Little Sense’ For Trump to Continue With War, Notes Former Ambassador to Israel
Daniel Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel under former president Barack Obama and as special liaison on Iran under former president Joe Biden, also noted that it would make “little sense” for Trump to continue his unpopular war after the midterms.
“It makes little sense to resume attacks on Iran, since even the Republicans now acknowledge that the war is why they lost,” he said. “But Trump is erratic, unstable and hates to be seen as a loser.”
Shapiro continued, “Iran has little incentive to give him a good deal that would allow him to claim victory, so his choices are to escalate and then claim victory — with the risk that he cannot control the escalation — or essentially walk away.”
Iran Declares Victory, Boasting of ‘DEFEAT in Washington’
Iran declared victory following the Republican Party’s major defeat on Tuesday, boasting that it had handed Trump both a strategic and political defeat.
“The Iranian nation handed Trump a strategic defeat on the battlefield and in the Hormuz—and a POLITICAL DEFEAT in Washington,” declared Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. “Meanwhile, Americans got stuck with the bill for his war.
Anyone who takes on Iran will pay the price—from the battlefield to their own doorstep.”
The official X account of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s official X account also celebrated the Republican Party’s defeat.
“Today, as a result of the self-inflicted scandal of the arrogant powers, the power and dominance of #Decline_of_America in both dimensions of hard military power and soft international power has suffered an irreversible fall,” the account declared. “And the process of its collapse has accelerated.”
Vice President JD Vance Acknowledged the Iran War as the Reason For the Republican Party’s Election Wipeout
Vice President JD Vance openly acknowledged the Iran war as the main reason for the Republican Party’s defeat in the midterms on Tuesday.
“The reason we lost is the war,” he said. “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”
The vice president added, “To the people who are pissed off and want to say, ‘I told you so’: you’re right, you did tell us so.”
President Trump also acknowledged that his war against Iran played a major part in the Republican Party’s defeat, before insisting it was worth it and that he would do it all again.
“If I had to do it again, I’d have to do it again because long-term it’s the only answer,” he told reporters. “You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
About the Author: Charlie Nash
Charlie Nash is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Spectator, Mediaite, New Statesman, and the American Conservative, among other major publications. The Washington Post, Fox News, the Daily Beast, MS NOW, NewsNation, Hannity, and more have featured his reporting. You can follow Charlie on X at @CharlieNash and on LinkedIn.
