SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly pressed Vice President J.D. Vance about whether President Donald Trump was focusing too much on foreign policy during an interview that aired Wednesday.
Iranian forces attempted to seize an American oil tanker Tuesday, shortly after a United States Marine Corps F-35 shot down an Iranian drone approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Vance told Kelly during Wednesday’s episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show” that President Donald Trump’s primary focus was “the home front.”
“What are we talking about Iran for? What do you mean America first? Let’s focus on our own problems, affordability, all these things,” Kelly said. “They think President Trump spent too much time focused on overseas issues anyway and they definitely don’t want to get involved in Iran. And then there’s a larger faction, another faction, that is also large that’s more neocon-y that says, ‘We missed an opportunity. We let those protesters down. You know, the window’s closing. We should be more aggressive militarily than we are right now.’ Where do you fall?”
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Trump has repeatedly boasted that he has ended multiple wars, and also directed a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan related to Iran’s effort to develop nuclear weapons in June.
“First of all, I hear the criticisms out there that the administration is too focused on foreign policy. I just have to defend the president. I don’t think that’s true,” Vance responded. “I think that certainly when you’re the president of the United States, you do have to conduct foreign policy. We’re the most powerful country in the world.”
“But what I see him every day, he’s laser-focused on how do we make the American people more prosperous and more secure in their own country. That’s what our immigration policy is about, which we’ve taken a raft of crap over,” Vance continued. “That’s what our crime policy is about. That’s, you know, even the foreign policy stuff. Much of the president’s foreign policy has been focused on reshoring industry, on using tariffs to force people to reinvest in the United States of America.”
Trump announced Nov. 14 that tariffs on some imported grocery items would be suspended, citing progress in trade talks. Vance also explained why Trump took a such a hard line on Iran’s nuclear program.
“Now, Iran specifically, like what should we do with Iran? Okay, a couple things. First of all, it’s the president’s decision, he will ultimately decide how we handle this particular Iranian situation just like he decided on Operation Midnight Hammer,” Vance said. “What he has been very clear on, if you go back to 2015, 2016, 2021, 2025, the president has said consistently, we can’t let these people have a nuclear weapon.”
“Now, why, why does that matter to America? Number one, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, like you think it’s bad when we have a domestic terror attack where a couple of people die, and you’re right,” Vance continued. “What happens when the same people who are shooting up a mall or driving airplanes into buildings have a nuclear weapon? That is unacceptable.”
Iran threatened to pull out of talks scheduled for Friday in Istanbul, Turkey, insisting that they be moved to Oman, before the United States rejected the last-minute demands.
In addition to the attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump also ordered a military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of dictator Nicolas Maduro. Trump also ordered strikes on radical Islamic terrorists who were persecuting Christians in Nigeria, deploying troops to assist the Nigerian government.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to not get into so-called endless wars and to focus on the economy, helping propel him to a decisive victory over then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
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