JD Vance appears to be desperately trying to rewrite his role in the administration’s Iran war as his rival to be President Donald Trump’s chosen MAGA successor in 2028 gains favor.
The vice president, known for speaking out against forever wars, was outed as a driving force behind “Operation Epic Fury” in a New York Times report last week that quoted insiders who said he’d urged President Donald Trump to “go big and go fast” if he wanted to strike Iran. Soon after, with public support for the war shockingly low, anonymous sources embarked on a campaign to offer a new narrative painting Vance as the sole voice of reason in the administration.
That spin campaign picked up again Friday with an unnamed “senior Trump official,” apparently speaking on Vance’s behalf, telling Politico the vice president is “skeptical” of the war effort and “worried about success.”
The official claimed Vance “just opposes” the war.
A second unnamed Trump official reiterated that narrative, telling the outlet the vice president’s “role is to provide the president and the administration, you know, all points of views of what could happen from many different angles and, you know, he does that. But once the decision has been made, he’s fully on board.”
Both officials claimed Vance had pushed back against the war in the days before it began on Feb. 28. But those claims don’t appear to line up with the account given by officials who told the Times the vice president had actually talked Trump out of a limited strike, which is the option the president had initially wanted to go with.
Trump himself gave some credence to the Times’ report by telling reporters his vice president “did not take persuading” when it came to launching strikes on Iran. That came after newly MAGA-curious CBS News had aired Vance’s apparent damage control with a report claiming he’d been “personally against” the strikes.
Publicly, Vance has defended the war and echoed White House talking points about it being “different” from all the earlier overseas U.S. military interventions he has long campaigned against. But he has been conspicuously missing in action, raising some eyebrows earlier this week with an announcement he’s going to debate college kids next month.
Even that, however, suggests he’s trying to shore up support while his potential 2028 rival, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, outshines him as Trump’s mouthpiece for U.S. operations in Iran.
Turning Point USA, the conservative youth movement founded by the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, has Vance appearing alongside Kirk’s widow, Erica Kirk, at the University of Georgia in April.
It comes as Vance and Rubio are increasingly touted as frontrunners to succeed Trump as the GOP presidential candidate in 2028. Rubio’s odds have reportedly shot up as he’s taken center stage during the Iran war.
In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said, “Efforts to drive a wedge between President Trump and Vice President Vance are totally misguided. The President listens to a host of opinions from his talented national security team and ultimately makes decisions based on what is best for our country and national security. Vice President Vance is a tremendous asset to the President and the entire administration.”
