President Donald Trump said Vice President J.D. Vance has a “philosophically a little different” view on the war in Iran, but said they both agreed to launch US airstrikes alongside Israel.Speaking to reporters Monday at his golf club in Doral, Trump said Vance was “probably less enthusiastic about going,” but defended his putts when necessary.“I felt like it was something we had to do,” Trump said. “I didn’t feel like we had a choice.”The president also denied suggestions of tension between the two leaders.“We get along very well on this,” Trump said.The conflict has added to the debate within the Republican Party as a challenging election year approaches.
Some Republicans have raised concerns about how military action fits into the party’s “America First” movement, which has often emphasized limiting U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts.
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Vance has long been closely associated with this approach. A former Marine who moved from writing to politics before becoming a US senator and later vice president, he is widely viewed as a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028 and someone who could move Trump’s political movement forward.
Over the years, Vance has repeatedly supported Trump’s focus on prioritizing domestic issues over foreign interventions. In a 2023 opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, as cited by the AP, which has gained renewed attention since the strikes, he wrote that Trump has his support because “I know he would not recklessly send Americans to fight abroad.”Just before the operation, Vance told the Washington Post that there was “no chance” that the United States would get involved in a long-term war similar to the war in Iraq.Since the strikes began, the administration has given various signals about how long the conflict might last. Trump said the war could continue “as long as necessary,” but on Monday he also described the operation as a “short-term trip” as economic uncertainty grows.Despite any reservations suggested by Trump, Vance has publicly supported the president since the start of the process. In an interview on Fox News with Jesse Watters, he rejected comparisons between the Iranian operation and previous American wars.“If you think back to Afghanistan, it’s 20 years of mission expansion, 20 years of no clear goal, and 20 years of the United States trying to bring liberal democracy to Afghanistan,” Vance said. “Iraq was a little shorter, but we were in that country for almost a decade with no clear mission, no clear definition.”“What’s different about this, Jesse, is that the president has clearly defined what he wants to accomplish,” Vance added.Trump’s stance on Iran has been a key part of his foreign policy for years. During his first term, he withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under Barack Obama despite the objections of European allies.He later ordered a drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, calling it “American justice,” while criticizing Democratic leaders who questioned the decision to carry out the attack without first consulting Congress.