Breaking
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is defending President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran, even as the conflict is blamed for Republicans’ losses in last week’s midterm elections. Rubio said Sunday that the war was “necessary” to keep Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while acknowledging that it was not “necessarily popular.”
“He addressed it even though oftentimes the right thing to do for the country — confronting difficult challenges for the security of our country — doing it isn’t necessarily popular, but necessary,” Rubio said, according to Fox News. Rubio said Trump was responding to a “very real threat” when he launched the war earlier this year. The comments came in response to questions about Vice President JD Vance, who blamed the war for the GOP’s defeat.
Details & Background
Vance laid out his view in a lengthy post on X the morning after the election, writing, “The reason we lost is the war.” Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate on Nov. 3, and Democrats are set to take over Congress in January. Trump has made no apologies, saying repeatedly since Election Day that he had no choice but to stop Iran’s nuclear program, though he told 60 Minutes this weekend that he is not currently looking to escalate the conflict.
Talks between the United States and Iran are ongoing, but Rubio said they are making little progress. “I wouldn’t say we’re at the verge of a breakthrough,” he said. Meanwhile, Iran announced Sunday that it is abandoning its self-imposed 2,000-kilometer limit on ballistic missile range, after the U.S. military launched a new task force on Nov. 7 aimed at cutting off Tehran’s weapons shipments and illicit trade, according to Fox News and the Associated Press. The old limit of 2,000 kilometers works out to roughly 1,240 miles, and dropping it signals that Tehran intends to build weapons that can reach much farther.
Reactions
Trump doubled down on the war when speaking to reporters on Sunday. “I can tell you if I had it to do again, this historically — for history — will go down as one of the best things we ever did,” he said. “Because if they ever had a nuclear weapon, they would blow up the world.”
Rubio also blamed Tehran for the lack of a diplomatic deal. “Right now, it hasn’t been very productive because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic,” he said. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman, Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, confirmed the end of the missile-range limit, saying, “That restriction has been lifted for us.”
Why This Matters to You
The war with Iran affects Americans in ways that go far beyond the battlefield, from the safety of U.S. troops in the region to energy prices and the risk of a wider conflict. A nuclear-armed Iran would threaten America’s allies, its forces overseas and global oil supplies. How the administration handles the next phase of the war, and whether talks lead anywhere, will shape both national security and family budgets in the months ahead. Iran’s move to lift its missile-range limit only raises the stakes for whatever comes next.
The debate is also exposing a split at the top of the Republican Party heading into 2028. Vance and Rubio are both seen as potential successors to Trump, and they are now offering different explanations for why the party lost. With Iran expanding its missile ambitions and Democrats preparing to take control of Congress, the question of whether the war was worth its political cost will remain at the center of Washington’s biggest fights.
