JD Vance

Vance publicly claims a diplomatic opening with Iran, citing senior IRGC officials' willingness to move past 47 years of mistrust and negotiate. He ranked cheap energy as goal one and Iran nuclear prevention as goal two on Fox News; Trump publicly overrode him on Truth Social, declaring nuclear prevention "the number one Goal" — the one documented daylight split between VP and president. Vance also authorized a covert channel to IRGC Commander Vahidi, facilitated by DNI Tulsi Gabbard and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, offering billions to bribe Iranian military leaders to defect; Vahidi rejected the offer.

Vance requested Zelenskyy halt raids on tankers serving the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near Novorossiysk; Zelenskyy agreed, provided the vessels don't carry Russian cargo or face sanctions. Earlier, Vance confronted Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, accusing him of disrespecting Trump, which led to Zelenskyy's removal from the White House and a temporary cutoff of U.S. intelligence to Ukrainian forces.

Vance will keynote the first night of the RNC's unprecedented midterm convention in Dallas on September 9-10, sharing top billing with Trump. He is campaigning across Ohio with Senator Jon Husted and gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, attacking Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed over 2022 CAIR remarks linking Sharia-law bans to white supremacy, and dismissing cost-of-living concerns with "Groceries cost what they cost" as inflation sits at 3.7%. He is widely viewed as the 2028 GOP frontrunner, though Ted Cruz is challenging that assumption by calling for a full party identity debate; Trump has publicly denied telling donors the party needs to elect Vance. Legislative Director James Braid departs in September with Vance praising him for delivering "at every turn."

Vance announced a $1 billion Cleveland-Cliffs steel plant investment in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, framing it through his family's steelworker roots — "Pawpaw was a welder for 40 years." The project pivots from a Biden-era hydrogen plan to coal-dependent blast furnaces, drawing environmental opposition. He publicly questioned whether the U.S. benefits from dollar reserve status, arguing the artificially high dollar makes domestic production less competitive and hurts American workers. He backs a proposed $103,265 fee for H-1B visas as part of tighter visa scrutiny coinciding with a record 10% drop in international college applications to the U.S.

Rand Paul asked Vance to certify a contempt resolution against Anthony Fauci to shortcut a direct DOJ referral, but the administration stalled the move over legal concerns. Vance's Senate procedural role intersected with a political prosecution effort he did not advance.