Vice President J.D. Vance disputed reports Friday that he quietly opposes U.S. strikes against Iran.
Officials alleged that Vance opposed the U.S. intervention in Iran and expressed skepticism about President Donald Trump’s decision to launch Operation Epic Fury in late February, according to Politico. Vance said while he would not publicly discuss his private conversations on the matter, he ensured that the president and his advisers discussed what actions needed to be taken to “best protect the American people.”
“But imagine the situation, we’re in the Situation Room, where you can’t even take your iPod in there, or your AirPods, I guess what they’re called, you can’t take your iPhone in there, you can’t take anything in there, because it is the most classified space anywhere in the world,” Vance said. “And I sit there with Pete Hegseth and General Kane and Marco Rubio and the entire White House team, and the President and I and the entire senior team are talking about the options and about what we need to do and about how we must best protect the American people.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not going to show up here in front of God and everybody else and 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,” Vance continued.
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One anonymous source told Politico that Vance was “worried about success” and “just opposes” the war in Iran, while another official said Vance is “fully on board” with Trump’s decisions once they are made. Vance defended the U.S.’s military actions in Iran during a March 2 interview with Fox News, saying that the strikes intended to deter Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Trump said Monday that Vance was less aligned with him on Iran, but that he was still “quite enthusiastic” about the military action. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Vance is a “tremendous asset” for Trump’s decision making on national security matters, according to Politico.
Two days before Trump launched the strikes, Vance told The Washington Post that he is a “skeptic of foreign military interventions” and prefers a “diplomatic option.”
Vance has long derided foreign interventions, stating in 2023 that he supported Trump because he would not send Americans to fight wars overseas. In a leaked Signal chat in 2025, Vance appeared to break with Trump by writing that he believed bombing the Houthis was a “mistake.” He has also opposed continued U.S. military aid to Ukraine and expressed support for a negotiated settlement to end the war.
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