Trump Says He Has No Regrets Over Iran War as Midterms Loom
Donald Trump says he does not regret the war with Iran despite its possible impact on the US midterm elections, and insists the conflict will end right after the vote.
US President Donald Trump has said he does not regret going to war with Iran, even as the conflict weighs on his party's prospects in November's midterm elections.
In an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, broadcast on Thursday, Trump was asked whether he regretted the war because of its possible effect on the elections. "I don't believe in the word 'regret.' You can always question yourself a little bit," he said, adding that he would act exactly the same way if given another chance.
Trump also pushed back against the suggestion that parts of his support base were upset or demoralised by the war. He said his supporters were instead proud that he was preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The president repeated his position that the conflict will end immediately after the midterm elections, which will decide whether his Republican Party keeps control of Congress. He made similar remarks a day earlier, when he alleged that Tehran was trying to influence the vote.
Rising oil and gas prices linked to the US-Israeli war on Iran have become a significant issue for Republicans ahead of the elections. The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, and Iran responded with strikes on Israel and on Gulf states hosting US bases. The US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.
Trump has cited the weakening of Iran's nuclear capabilities as one of his war aims. Iran does not possess nuclear weapons and says its uranium enrichment programme is intended for peaceful purposes. The United States, by contrast, is a nuclear-armed state.