US affairs expert: Trump ‘sacrificing’ Vance, shifting to economic pressure on Iran after midterms

US affairs expert Dr. Kobi Barda says President Donald Trump has turned on Vice President JD Vance after the Republican midterm defeat, citing a Truth Social post and a Wall Street Journal leak. Barda describes the rift as a family feud and says Trump is shifting from military strikes to a two-year economic siege on Iran.

US President Donald Trump has turned on Vice President JD Vance following the Republican defeat in the midterm elections, according to Dr. Kobi Barda, a US affairs expert at the Holon Institute of Technology. In an interview on 103FM, Barda pointed to two signs: Trump's Truth Social post instructing Vance to stop dealing with Iran, and a leak to The Wall Street Journal in which Trump reportedly blames Vance for halting the war. Barda described the dispute as a 'family feud,' noting that Trump's son Don Jr. had pushed for Vance, while chief of staff Susie Wiles, who was abruptly fired, had also been a key backer. Barda called the Republican loss 'of biblical proportions,' noting that a Democratic senator was elected from Kansas for the first time in 94 years. He said Trump is now betting on a two-year economic siege of Iran rather than renewed military strikes, and that Senator Ted Cruz, a war supporter, declared the Iran story over after the election. Trump told Hugh Hewitt it would be a defeat if Iran's leaders remain in power when he leaves office, but said military force is not needed now because the US controls the Strait of Hormuz.