Trump admits: The war with Iran “could cost” Republicans the midterm elections

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday, before leaving for a campaign rally in Oklahoma, Trump was asked whether the increasingly unpopular war with Iran risks Republicans’ chances in November. “Well, it’s possible,” the president replied, according to The Hill’s reporting. But he immediately added that the war “should help,” reasoning that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon: “When you say it that way, it would help. If you don’t say it that way, it could hurt,” Trump said.

The question came after comments by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, on the YouTube show “Harry Cole Saves the West,” where she said the conflict “could cost him these midterm elections” and perhaps even his legacy, adding that Iran is “absolutely” waiting for the November elections. The admission comes as a new AP-NORC poll, released on Thursday, shows that 71% of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the war with Iran and 69% say the war was not worth fighting. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the conflict has cost the U.S. 38 billion dollars as of September 15 — and the cost keeps rising.

Earlier this week, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps called on Americans who oppose the president to damage him politically in the midterm elections, suggesting this could bring peace between the two countries.