Rubio defends Trump's 'necessary' decision to start Iraq war after Vance said it cost GOP midterms

Rubio said that the decision was “necessary,” and that President Trump was responding to a “very real threat,” when the war started. Trump had run his campaign for a second White House term on a promise of “no new wars.”

In his home state of Florida on Sunday prior to flying to meet a Group of 7 foreign ministers in Paris, Rubio was asked about Vice President Vance’s comments on social media that pointed to the Iran war as a major factor in the Republican losses, according to the Independent.

“He addressed it even though oftentimes the right thing to do for the country-confronting difficult challenges for the security of our country-doing it isn’t necessarily popular, but necessary,” Rubio of Trump’s decision.

Trump has acknowledged that the war led to midterm losses and said in an interview on 60 Minutes on Sunday that he is not looking to escalate the conflict. He told reporters on Sunday that, “if I had to do it again, this historically—for history—will go down as one of the best things we ever did,” adding, “because if they ever had a nuclear weapon, they would blow up the world.”

Rubio said that talks between Iran and the U.S. are not making much progress. He said, “I wouldn’t say we’re on the verge of a breakthrough,” adding, “Right now, it hasn’t been very productive because the Iranian demands are simply not just unacceptable, but in some cases outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Iran, which had a self-imposed missile range limit of 2000 kilometers or about 1,240 miles, lifted this restriction and threatened new weapons. This was immediately after a new task force was launched by the U.S. military that is focused on curtailing Tehran’s weapons shipments and illicit trade.