Trump says Iran war will 'go down as one of the best things we ever did'

President Donald Trump defended the war with Iran on Sunday, saying history will judge it as one of his best decisions. He also conceded that voters disliked the conflict and the jump in gasoline prices that helped cost Republicans the midterms.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. war with Iran "will go down as one of the best things we ever did," even as he acknowledged that the conflict and rising gasoline prices hurt Republicans in last week's midterm elections. Trump made the remarks to reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, before flying back to Washington, and in an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday evening.

"We won in Iran. It's just a question of closing it out now or later. We may wait," Trump told reporters, adding that some of Iran's neighbors "would prefer that we just keep it the way it is." He said the United States had not lost any soldiers in the strikes and argued that Iran would "blow up the world" if it ever obtained a nuclear weapon.

In the clip, Trump tells reporters on the tarmac that the war "historically, for history, will go down as one of the best things we ever did." In the same exchange he said he could destroy Iran's bridges and power plants "right now," but that the country would then take a very long time to rebuild.

"I don't disagree"

Trump was also asked about Vice President JD Vance, who wrote after the Nov. 3 vote that the Iran war was the reason Republicans lost. "A lot of people didn't like JD Vance's comments about the midterms, but not me," Trump said in Florida. He said Vance was right but should have added one more point: whether the administration would go to war again if given the chance. "The answer is yes," Trump said.

In the "60 Minutes" interview, Trump went further. "The voters didn't like the war. They didn't like the fact that gasoline went up," he said, adding that there was also "a great dislike, incredibly, for Israel."

In this part of the interview, Trump is read Vance's social media post saying "the reason we lost is the war" and replies: "I don't disagree with it." Elsewhere he said the war would prove "a very good decision" historically, before adding: "Is it a good decision for today and tomorrow? Maybe not."

Deal talk, costs and Hegseth

Trump said Washington had been close to an agreement with Tehran before the election. "If we didn't have this election, we might have had a deal. This gives them hope," he said. "We will make a deal anyway." Asked whether he would escalate now that the midterms are over, he said: "I'm not looking to. I don't think there's any reason to," and claimed Iran's nuclear material was "buried under thousands of tons of rock." He also said countries the U.S. had protected "are going to pay us back any and all costs that we've had for the war."

The president also stood by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who faces a House Democratic resolution that Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says he will support. Trump said Hegseth "won two wars: Venezuela and Iran" and that he still has confidence in him.

Earlier Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that "Task Force Iron Gate is in full force and effect" in Iran and that, "coupled with history's greatest Naval Blockade, very little gets into, or out of, Iran!" In a phone interview with CNN, he said renewed U.S. strikes were "highly unlikely" if Tehran signs "a very strong agreement," while warning: "I would if necessary, but we hit them really hard." Trump is scheduled to host Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the White House on Monday.

Cover: Anadolu Agency. Videos: LiveNOW from Fox, CBS News "60 Minutes" via social media

Trump says Iran war will 'go down as one of the best things we ever did'