President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have presented a united front on most major domestic and foreign policy issues since taking office.
The war in Iran is proving to be something of an exception.
Trump admitted as much on Monday, telling reporters at a press conference in Florida that there was some daylight between his view on the war and Vance’s. The war has entered its 11th day as the US and Israel continue airstrikes to degrade Iran’s military and nuclear program.
Vance was “philosophically a little bit different from me” at the start of the war, Trump said. The vice president was “maybe less enthusiastic” about launching the war, Trump added.
The remarks acknowledged a complicated balancing act for Vance, a frontrunner to succeed Trump as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2028.
The vice president has been a vocal critic of US interventions abroad – a popular position with the Maga base Vance would need to win over in a White House run.
In a 2023 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Vance said he backed Trump because “I know he won’t recklessly send Americans to fight overseas.”
Vance reiterated the position in an interview with the Washington Post just hours before Trump launched the military campaign against Iran.
Since then, Vance has publicly backed the war effort. But in private, he reportedly pushed for a short military campaign that doesn’t turn into a protracted conflict.
Vance’s position on Iran also stands in contrast to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has emerged as a vocal supporter of US interventions abroad. Rubio is also rumored to be a potential 2028 Republican contender.
