Key Facts

• Vance made his comments in a post on X, his first public remarks since the midterm elections.
• Vance said voters who backed Trump and him in 2024 switched to Democrats in 2026, and cited opposition to the Iran war, living costs and inflation, “America first” priorities, and the U.S. relationship with Israel as reasons.
• Vance said a diplomatic resolution to the Iran conflict was a sound goal and described an earlier agreement to halt the fighting as one that fell apart.
• Democrats were expected to hold at least 54 Senate seats after winning 10 of 11 battleground states; Alaska and Mississippi remained unresolved.
• CBS News estimated Democrats would control between 251 and 268 House seats once vote counting finished.
• Trump began the war in Iran in late February, and by the time of the article it had continued into its eighth month, with gas prices rising.
• Trump said the war would end when he decided, while insisting Iran must not develop a nuclear weapon.
• The Defense Department said 23 U.S. service members had been killed and 865 wounded in the conflict; the U.S. launched limited defensive strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.