‘Failed to see benefits due to high fuel prices’: Trump blames Iran war for Republican defeat in midterms

President Donald Trump congratulated Democrats for doing “a good job” after the party inflicted devastating defeats on his Republican allies, winning back both houses of Congress and picking up several governors’ mansions.President Donald Trump vows to become 'Political Pundit' (Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg) (Bloomberg)But the president, in an interview with Fox News early Wednesday morning, didn’t take responsibility for a long night of GOP defeats, including many in what had been considered reliably conservatives states.“No matter how good the president is, you lose,” Trump said, adding that “because of the gasoline price” Americans had failed to see the economic benefits brought about by his presidency. He said that high fuel prices came about because of the war in Iran, and again defended the US military campaign in the Middle East as necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons.“It’s just the way it is,” Trump said.Trump said he could work with a House and Senate run by the opposition “if the Democrats want to work with me.” He also alluded to the considerable clout that a president has with or without allies in control of Congress.“It’s a power of veto,” Trump said. “It’s one of the stronger powers that a president has, and they’ll send over things that are insane, and I’ll veto them. And after a couple of months of vetoes, they’ll call and they’ll say, ‘How do we get this stuff done?’”Also Read | ‘Americans said no to war’: Iran reacts to US midterm election results as Democrats head to flip CongressAsked if he made a mistake in choosing Senate candidates Ken Paxton in Texas and Darline Graham in South Carolina, who both lost, Trump dismissed the notion. He said that he considered Senator John Cornyn, the Republican incumbent in Texas, “a disloyal guy.” Paxton defeated Cornyn in the Republican primary after getting Trump’s endorsement.In the closing weeks of the midterm election campaign, Trump implored Americans at rallies across the country to vote as if he himself were running.But as he told Fox News in the interview: “I don’t like to consider it a defeat for me. I wasn’t on the ballot.”