VP Vance rebuffs attempt to ‘drive a wedge’ between himself and Trump over Iran war

U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Monday rebuffed a reporter who questioned him regarding past comments he has made about a potential conflict with Iran and U.S. military intervention in other countries. 

“I know what you’re trying to do, Phil, you’re trying to drive a wedge between members of the administration, between me and the president,” Vance told RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegmann at the White House. “What the president has said consistently, going back to 2015 – and I agreed with him – is that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.” 

The question appears to be an attempt to trap Vance in past comments in which he expressed skepticism about U.S. military intervention in Iran. 

JD Vance on Iran:

What Trump has said consistently going back to 2015, and what I agree with, is that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.

I think all of us, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, should pray for success and pray for the safety of our troops. pic.twitter.com/kiUvpHluQN

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 16, 2026

In a 2023 opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Vance wrote that Trump’s best foreign policy move was not starting any new wars. 

"My entire adult lifetime has been shaped by presidents who threw America into unwise wars and failed to win them," Vance wrote at the time. 

Pressed by Wegmann to explain the difference of his current position from some of his earlier positions, Vance said his support for the current operation is based on his trust in President Trump. 

“Well, I think one big difference, Phil, is that we have a smart president, whereas in the past, we’ve had dumb presidents,” Vance said.

“And I trust President Trump can get the job done, to do a good job for the American people, and to make sure that the mistakes of the past aren’t repeated, absolutely.” 

Just days before the joint U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign was started, Vance told the Washington Post that there was no chance the U.S. would get dragged into “a Middle Eastern war for years.”  

A report in Politico on March 13, said that Vance was skeptical of the U.S. carrying out military strikes in Iran before President Donald Trump made the decision to do so. 

The report, which cited “two senior Trump officials,” claimed that Vance was “‘skeptical,’ is ‘worried about success’ and ‘just opposes’ the war on Iran.” 

However, one of the officials said that while Vance expressed contrary views before the decision was made, he backed the decision afterwards. 

Regarding Vance, the official said, “his 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.” 

Last week, Vance appeared to acknowledge differences while still presenting a united front when speaking to reporters.

Asked about his discussions with the president on the Iran war, he responded, “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.”

JD Vance in 2024:

Our interest, I think, very much is in not going to war with Iran.

It would be a huge distraction of resources. It would be massively expensive to our country.pic.twitter.com/mGiQ4eaq3j

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 1, 2026

During the 2024 campaign season, Vance expressed his personal belief that going to war with Iran would not be in the U.S. interests while speaking on the Tim Dillon podcast in October 2024. Talking about the convergence and divergence of interests with Israel in the Middle East, Vance said, “Sometimes we’re going to have overlapping interests and sometimes we’re going to have distinct interests. And our interests, I think very much, is in not going to war with Iran.” 

However, during a vice presidential debate that same year, Vance called for supporting Israel if the Jewish State made the decision to go to war with Iran. 

Your reminder that during the 2024 presidential race, J.D. Vance backed the idea of a preemptive strike by Israel against Iran.

He added that the decision was up to Israel, but that the U.S. should support it pic.twitter.com/hpdmE5L1D9

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) March 2, 2026

Last week, President Trump himself acknowledged some differences of opinion with the vice president, but appeared to dismiss it as inconsequential. 

“He was, I’d say, philosophically a little different from me. I think he was maybe less enthusiastic about going, but he was still quite enthusiastic,” Trump told reporters during a visit to his Mar-A-Lago residence.