Missouri Congresswoman Ann Wagner says President Donald Trump made the right decision to attack Iran, contending that he needed to prevent that country from having a nuclear weapon.
And while the Ballwin Republican said on an episode of the "Politically Speaking" podcast that she wanted the conflict to end as soon as possible, she defended her no votes on war powers resolutions that sought to curtail Trump's ability to use military force against Iran.
"Those are just political throwaway votes that the Democrats try to toss out there on a monthly basis," Wagner said. "I'm going to give the president his prerogative in continuing this, to the extent that it takes to make sure that they're not nuclearized, to make sure that they're not attacking American citizens, to make sure that when they chant 'Death to America,' that it doesn't have any teeth behind it.
"I believe that this will come to a quick end," she added.
Wagner is squaring off against Democrat Fred Wellman on Nov. 3 to represent Missouri's 2nd Congressional District, which takes in portions of St. Louis, St. Charles and Warren counties and all of Franklin County.
While Wagner easily won reelection in 2024 and 2022, a victory this year is less certain given that polls show momentum for Democrats around the country. Wagner embarked on an aggressive advertising campaign criticizing Wellman for his past statements as a podcaster and financial problems. Wellman's campaign spokeswoman said he is in good standing with the IRS and 100% up to date on his taxes. Wellman's appearance on "Politically Speaking" can be found at stlpr.org.
"No one knows the politics or the beliefs or the background of my opponent Fred Wellman," Wagner said in response to a question about critical television ads. "So you have to define your opponent so that the people understand and don't think that he may be something that he's not."
Here's what else Wagner said on the program:
- She strongly opposes easing any sanctions against Russia, including a deal on diesel that Trump struck. "I do not support, and I want to be clear about this, easing any of the sanctions against Putin's regime," she said. "And I will tell you this: Diesel prices and all the price of gasoline needs to come down, but we don't bring prices down by helping Vladimir Putin, and I do not support taking his diesel."
- She described herself as "an old-school, free, yet fair trade conservative" on tariffs. She said she would like to see more trade deals forged between the United States and other countries to "bring down costs for all Americans."
- She said congressional votes aimed at repealing Trump's tariffs, such as ones against Canada, amount to "feckless" "gotcha" votes that don't have any real impact. "We don't have a say over tariff policy," Wagner said. "The Senate has more say over tariff and trade policy than the United States House of Representatives."
- Asked if she would support repealing restrictions on medical provider taxes that Missouri Republican leaders say could have a catastrophic impact on the state budget, Wagner said, "If there are other things that need to be tweaked in the Big Beautiful Bill because it was a massive piece of legislation I am sure that there will be."
Wagner was first elected to the U.S. House in 2012. When she won that race, her district was a traditional GOP stronghold. But it's become more competitive, especially as Trump's dominance over the Republican Party turned off suburban voters who make up a substantial portion of the 2nd District's population.
But even though the district has a substantial number of Democrats, Wagner has managed to outperform Trump in St. Louis County — which is the district's population center and a part of Missouri that has swung toward the Democratic Party.
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