Rubio Defends Iran War as Trump Says No Plans to Escalate After Midterm Losses

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that President Donald Trump's decision to go to war with Iran was not "necessarily popular, but necessary," days after Republicans suffered heavy losses in the midterm elections. Rubio said Trump was responding to a "very real threat" and had confronted a national security threat that previous presidents failed to address, namely Tehran obtaining a nuclear weapon. He spoke in response to questions about Vice President JD Vance's statement last week that also tied the losses to the war. Trump defended the war in a "60 Minutes" interview Sunday, saying the campaign prevented Iran from getting nuclear weapons, and said he sees no reason to escalate it.

On Monday, G7 foreign ministers began two days of talks in Paris, where Rubio was expected to face questions about whether the administration would shift its positions on Iran and Ukraine after the Democratic midterm victory. Also Monday, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said the war was unlikely to be decisively settled for a long period. He said the UAE had always opposed it.

Left-leaning CBS News leads with Trump's remark that he sees no reason to escalate, but its opening centers on Gargash's Abu Dhabi remarks. It quotes his warning of prolonged uncertainty, his description of Iran's economic and leadership pressures, and his comment that it is too early to judge the midterms' effect on U.S. policy. It does not feature Rubio. Right-leaning Fox News and Newsmax focus on U.S. officials' justification. Fox headlines Rubio's "necessary" quote, carries his acknowledgment of the war's electoral cost, and links to a story on Vance's postmortem and possible 2028 GOP tension. Newsmax headlines Trump's "60 Minutes" interview, noting he has no plans to escalate and defends Israeli leadership, and stresses the nuclear-prevention rationale. Both sides report Trump's no-escalation stance and the nuclear rationale, but the left gives an allied foreign voice skeptical of the war, while the right gives administration voices. The Hill and France 24 add Rubio's remarks and the G7 angle.