In the past few hours, Donald Trump and JD Vance have pointed to the war in Iran costing the GOP dearly at the ballot box.
There’s that old adage that hindsight is often 20-20. But that gives a bit too much credit to the Trump administration.
Someone wearing a blindfold and/or noise cancelling headphones would have been able to tell you the war was a $US47 billion ($67b) ball and chain the Republican Party and the White House had been dragging for 250 days.
Vance went a step further than the president and said the country’s voters were demanding a rethink of the US relationship with Israel.
So the two biggest questions from here are what do the midterm results mean for the course of the war, and what does this all mean for America’s closest ally in the region?
A banner in Tehran showing the US and Israeli leaders. (WANA: Majid Asgaripour via Reuters)
For weeks now, there’s been simmering speculation that the US and Israel were ready to launch fresh air strikes on Iran.
We’ve even heard much more noise in the skies over the ABC bureau in Jerusalem in recent weeks, with war planes flying overhead at all hours of the day and night.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reportedly been agitating for strikes sooner rather than later, ahead of his own election last week.
But Trump had urged him to pump the brakes, wanting the midterms out of the way first.
As polls were about to open, the president announced an end to Israeli military aid, reportedly catching Israeli defence and finance officials off guard.
Then, Trump told the Financial Times that he had no immediate plans to attack Iran.
The thumping midterms result might kick that can further and further down the road.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iran earlier this year. (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)
While the US president has been talking, his Israeli partner has been silent.
Bibi is usually the first to comment on anything and everything regarding the US and the strength of his personal relationship with DJT.
There is, of course, the possibility Netanyahu tries to force some escalation with Iran once more, to distract from his personal woes.
There’s also the chance Trump sees there’s nothing left to lose after the midterms and hits out at Tehran.
Unpredictability is pretty much the only predictable thing about Trump.