Donald Trump insists he will not escalate Iran war after midterm drubbing

Donald Trump has insisted he will not escalate the Iran war after the Republicans lost massively in the midterm elections.

Reports before the election suggested the President would begin a new wave of strikes on Iran immediately after the midterms.

But now, after his party lost control of both the Senate and the House, the President has downplayed the chance of further military action.

When asked if he planned to escalate the war, he told CBS News: “I’m not looking to. I don’t think there’s any reason to.”

And when pressed on Iran still having nuclear material, the President seemed to suggest the stockpile of what he calls “nuclear dust” was no longer.

Mr Trump said: “They have nothing. It’s buried under thousands of tons of rocks at the end of this whole thing.”

He also insisted the Strait of Hormuz was open, even though the few ships transiting the crucial waterway are being escorted by the US Navy.

The President claimed that when the war is over, countries which have relied on the US for protection would “pay us back any and all costs that we’ve had for the war”.

The claim that Iran has no little nuclear material will raise questions over why the US has continued to engage in the war.

Vice President JD Vance admitted the “reason we lost is the [Iran] war”, adding that “everyone knows why we lost”.

Mr Trump downplayed talks of a wedge being driven between him and his Vice President over the conflict.

Asked by reporters about the statement before boarding Air Force One, he said: “A lot of people didn’t like his comments, but not me. He was right.”

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But he said that if anyone asked him if “he had to do it again”, he would give an “emphatic yes”.

The President also said he was told by Mr Vance that the post was being made ahead of time.

Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff, has already been sacked after the midterms, with talks that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth could be the next to go.

Mr Trump said the former Fox News host has his confidence, but his backing would not save Mr Hegseth from articles of impeachment, which will be introduced by outgoing Republican Congressman Thomas Massie.

Hakeem Jeffries, the current Democratic minority leader in the House — who is expected to be Speaker of the House in January — said he was a “hard yes” on the impeachment articles.

He added: “Pete Hegseth has got to go.”

The Secretary of War, however, posted a defiant video claiming the “sham articles” would not work.

Mr Hegseth said: “You see, their policies don’t work. So, their obsession with political theatre disguised as power drives them to try to destroy their opponents.

“It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. Didn’t work against President Trump and it won’t work with me.”