Some Republicans are growing frustrated with President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, now approaching six months, as it risks worsening their prospects in the US midterm elections. In the most competitive House and Senate contests, vulnerable Republicans are broadly sticking with the president, betting that voters will accept the economic strains of the conflict in the name of national security. The GOP is defending a narrow majority in the House and is also trying to hold its Senate majority. Worried About Gas Prices And Daily CostsRep. Zach Nunn of Iowa, a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, said on Monday that Congress should “deal with this now” and “get it done”. He contrasted his approach with Democrats, whom he said were backing “just giving up”. Republican strategist Barrett Marson in Arizona said the situation had become a political test for the party. “There is one person in this country who doesn’t care about gas prices — just one — and unfortunately that one person kind of controls our fate,” he said. Marson described a “balancing act” for Republicans trying to support Trump while dealing with the pain voters feel. Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia said the war has turned into a political and economic problem for the party. Speaking on Monday in Washington, he called the conflict a “mess” and said Republicans needed to do more to address concerns about costs. He also argued that Americans had not received enough acknowledgement of how households were being affected. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a close Trump ally, made a similar point while campaigning in Virginia on Monday with swing-district Rep. Jen Kiggans, who faces former Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria in November. Johnson said the Iran conflict had driven up gas prices and that the effect had “drug on”. At the same time, Johnson said he expected a shift. He suggested the country was heading into a “new phase” that would bring down gas and grocery prices. Most Stay With Trump Despite Private ReservationsRepublican strategists and lawmakers say Trump’s continued popularity inside the party has helped limit open dissent, even as polls show the war is widely unpopular. They also note that Republicans face election pressure while trying to avoid breaking publicly with a president who remains a key political asset for their candidates. Trump has not always been accommodating to Republicans concerned about the political fallout from rising fuel prices. He has played down worries about gas costs, saying he would “never apologize” for using military force against Iran, and he has questioned the need to campaign in the midterms because he is not on the November ballot. He has also approved the use of millions of dollars from his personal political action committee to help candidates. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday found that just 3 in 10 voters approved of Trump’s handling of the Iran war, a figure Democrats are using to frame the conflict as a liability for Republicans. During a rally on Sunday in Atlanta, Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, one of the Democrats in the most threatened races, attacked Trump as disengaged and distracted while Americans face the impact of a war he said Trump started. Democrats Press “Endless War” Attacks On CostDemocratic campaign messaging increasingly depicts Republicans as supporting an extended conflict and higher costs. VoteVets, a group aimed at electing Democratic veterans, launched an advertisement last week that targeted Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan over the Iran war. The ad blamed him for $9-per-gallon gas in Dillingham, Alaska, while noting that rural parts of the state have long had higher prices than the national average. It also focused on Sullivan’s voting record on efforts to limit Trump’s war powers. Sullivan’s campaign spokesman, Nate Adams, said in a statement that the senator “supported decisive action” to prevent Iran, which Adams described as the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Adams added that the action was a threat to the United States, American service members, allies and global energy markets. Among threatened House Republicans, Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania have stood out for voting to limit Trump’s Iran war powers. However, the rest of the GOP field has largely argued that the conflict should be seen through. In a podcast interview earlier this month, Kiggans said she would like to see a “quick resolution” to the conflict, but urged support for Trump’s approach. She said the aim should be to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and to keep the Straits of Hormuz open, while backing the military actions and standing with service members and their families. The National Republican Congressional Committee said the election is a choice between Republicans focused on disarming Iran and Democrats it accused of having funded the regime for a decade. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Republicans were “blindly following Donald Trump’s ego”, adding that it would cost them control of the House. Join the discussion? 18 August 2026
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