Vance believes America’s future is MAGA, and the future of MAGA is him

November 5, 2026 — 2:35pm

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Follow along with our live coverage of the 2026 US midterms here. 

Washington: JD Vance blaming the Republicans’ midterm rout on the Iran war was surprising not because of the substance, but because we are so unfamiliar with anyone in this administration saying openly that Donald Trump got it wrong.

That was effectively Vance’s message on Wednesday (Washington time). In a 600-word post on X, he did not just say the war caused higher petrol prices, which Trump accepts, but that the war was not worth the electoral cost, with which Trump disagrees.

He also identified four things that Trump/Vance voters wanted: end the war, focus on the cost of living and inflation, put America first and “change our relationship to Israel”.

Vance’s reaction to the midterm results was always going to be fascinating. As a potential 2028 presidential contender, he is possibly the biggest loser from a day on which Americans voiced their dissatisfaction with the mob that’s currently in charge.

But it depends on how you parse the politics of what happened. Did Americans move away from Trumpism, populism and conservatism? Or did they determine that Trump and his Republicans failed to deliver on the populism, isolationism and “America........

© The Sydney Morning Herald