Vance Backs Trump On Iran — But Defends Past Skepticism

Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran on Monday, accusing the media of trying to drive a wedge between the president and vice president, a longtime skeptic of foreign interventionism.

Vance — who served in Iraq with the Marine Corps — was a vocal skeptic of U.S. military engagement overseas during his time in the Senate. The White House has repeatedly batted down speculation of a rift between Vance and the president.

"What the president said consistently going back to 2015 — and I agreed with him — Iran should not have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said Monday, when asked by a reporter at the White House if he was “completely on board” with the war in Iran.

The vice president continued: “We have taken this military action under the president's leadership. I think all of us, whether you are Democrat or Republican, should pray for the success and safety of our troops. That's the approach I've taken: make it as successful as possible."

Vance has on several occasions shared concerns about a possible U.S. war with Iran, saying in a podcast interview last year that “our interests, I think very much, is in not going to war with Iran.”

Asked about his past comments on Iran, Vance said Monday, “I think one big difference is that we have a smart president whereas in the past, we've had dumb presidents,” adding that he trusts Trump “to make sure that the mistakes of the past aren't repeated.”

POLITICO previously reported that Vance expressed skepticism about the operation in the lead-up to Trump’s decision to strike Iran, according to two senior administration officials. One of those officials, granted anonymity to discuss the vice president’s views, said Vance’s role is to share “all points of views of what could happen from many different angles” with the president, but added that he was “fully on board” once the decision to strike had been made.

Asked on Friday if he still harbored concerns about U.S. interventionism overseas, Vance likewise declined to disavow his past comments.

“I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not going to show you here and in front of God and everybody else, tell you exactly what I said in that classified room, partially because I don’t want to go to prison, and partially because I think it’s important for the president of the United States to be able to talk to his advisers without those advisers running their mouth to the American media,” he told reporters.

The president and administration officials have repeatedly declined to rule out American boots on the ground, fueling speculation that the U.S. could move forward with a possible ground invasion in Iran. Central Command said Monday that 200 U.S. service members had been wounded in the war, which has also killed at least 13 American military troops.

Trump said last week that Vance was “maybe less enthusiastic about going, but he was still quite enthusiastic,” and on Monday, he emphasized once again that Vance supported the mission.

“I think JD understands better than most, if you give Iran a nuclear weapon, at least a very substantial part of the world would be blown up, and it'll be used almost immediately,” Trump said.

Trump has said in recent days that Iran is ready to negotiate a deal to end the war but that he is not interested, saying Monday that he has “no idea who we are talking to.” Tehran named Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the former Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as its supreme leader after the elder Khamenei was killed in an airstrike.

But Trump has said that the new supreme leader could be wounded and even possibly dead, making it impossible for the U.S. to know who is leading the country amidst the ongoing war.