Connecticut Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy tells NBC’s “Meet the Press” that President Trump has “lost” the war with Iran and that he would support any deal that would bring it to an end.

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY: Well, Mike Rogers is going to represent only one person in the United States Senate: Donald Trump. The entire Republican Party has become a cult of personality, in which they have no ability to think independently. They do only what Donald Trump asks them to do and tells them to do. What I also know is that I served with Mike Rogers, he is one of the most hawkish, pro-war — was one of the most hawkish, most pro-war members of the House of Representatives. He is going to be a rubber stamp for this president’s war in Iran that has gas prices, in Michigan right now, hovering around $ 4.20 a gallon, that has no end in sight, that is bankrupting the American Treasury. I do think this election is going to be a referendum on this war that Donald Trump is losing. And Mike Rogers is well known as one of the biggest proponents of the American military being engaged in foreign conflicts in the United States Senate. KRISTEN WELKER: I want to ask you about one of the issues that is dividing Democrats. We saw this, certainly in 2024, it’s the issue of Israel. Do you think Democrats need to have a more unified message in order to be able to win purple states like Michigan? SEN. CHRIS MURPHY: Well, listen. Here’s my view. I want there to be a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. I support Israel. I cannot support this government’s actions. They are not aligned with U.S. national security objectives. And so I think that until we have a different government and a different policy in Israel, it’s going to be hard for people like me that want a Palestinian state, side by side with a Jewish state in the region, to support continuing to send arms to Israel. But your question is, should the Democrats have one position? Well, no. We have disagreements inside the Democratic Party. There were disagreements in Michigan. And that’s the sign of a healthy party. What’s the alternative? Well, the alternative is the Republican Party in which they are not allowed to have disagreements. The only thing they can think is what Donald Trump thinks. That’s a — that’s not a healthy party. I want to be a part of a party that occasionally actually has disagreements inside it. KRISTEN WELKER: But does it concern you that Dr. El-Sayed, for example, describes Israel as committing a genocide and apartheid? SEN. CHRIS MURPHY: Well, I think what you heard him say is that he will support funding to Israel, so long as Israel is on a path to live side by side with a Palestinian state. And I think that is a view that is shared by a wide cross-section of Americans. KRISTEN WELKER: I want to ask you about Iran. You have been clear that you want the war to end. Is there any deal that could be negotiated, that you would support, that you would get behind, in order to say, This is good enough, now, to end the war, and declare victory and move on? SEN. CHRIS MURPHY: So Donald Trump has lost this war. America is weaker. Iran is stronger. The price to reopen the Strait increases by the day. The supposed deal that’s on the table right now would pay Iran $ 100 million, excuse me, billion dollars a year, in order to reopen the Strait. That is one third of Iran’s entire economy. What a victory for Iran, that the end of this war, they get paid to reopen the Strait, they get paid to rebuild their military, they get paid to rebuild their support for proxies in the region. The answer to your question is, yes, I will support a deal to end this war and reopen the Strait. I am prepared to support a bad deal, to end this war and reopen the Strait, because the only deal that is available, at this point of — in time, is a terrible bad deal. But the war needs to end because every day that the war continues, America gets weaker, Iran gets stronger, and people here in the United States get screwed, as prices go up, and up and up. KRISTEN WELKER: Let me ask you, because Secretary Hegseth, the Pentagon, requesting an additional $ 67 billion in defense funding, in part to replenish stockpiles that have been depleted. Now, as a member of the appropriations committee, you have said that you’re not going to support additional funding. But let’s say that Democrats do win back the Senate, the majority, in January. How do you plan to replenish those stockpiles? SEN. CHRIS MURPHY: Well, the priority, right now, is ending this war. Seven in ten Americans want this war to end. Families are being bankrupted, as we speak, by this war. As kids are going back to school, families are realizing that filling up lunchboxes, this year, is going to cost them $ 4,000 more than it did last year. That is mostly because of this war. So, no, I am not going to support funding to keep this war going. But if the war comes to an end, if the president ends this war, then, yes, of course, I and my colleagues will be ready to provide the funding to replenish the stores of munitions that have been spent. But it is important to understand how much money that’s going to cost. We have used up almost all of our interceptors, the majority of our tomahawks. We have put the United States in a dangerous position. We have allowed Russia and China to imagine things that they couldn’t have imagined early because of our inability to defend ourselves and our allies. So the priority is ending this war. And, no, I’m not going to support additional funding. And I don’t think my Democratic colleagues are going to support additional funding to fund a continuation of a war that is destroying American credibility and destroying American families.

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