Vance is facing setbacks as he positions himself to be the future leader of his party, falling flat on two recent foreign policy assignments.
Vice President JD Vance faces political setbacks abroad
Vice President JD Vance has faced political setbacks abroad as he tries to position himself as the future leader of the Republican Party.
WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance acknowledged during a stop at a college campus that young conservatives who delivered the presidency to Donald Trump are frustrated with the administration over the war in Iran and need be to prodded to stay politically active leading into the midterms.
Appearing at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia on April 14, Vance said he recognizes that a “lot of young voters don’t love the policy” surrounding the Middle East.
Even so, Vance argued the administration has also taken steps to secure the border and lower housing and electricity costs and reduce the murder rate. “I’m not saying you have to agree with me on every issue,” he added. “What I’m saying is, don’t get disengaged because you disagree with the administration on one topic.”
Vance’s remarks nod to the administration’s political problem when it comes to the Iran war, which polling shows is unpopular. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 59% of Americans oppose Trump’s decision to attack Iran. Younger voters are more likely to have concerns, including young Republicans.
The Pew survey found that less than half – 49% – of young Republicans and Republican-leaning independents approve of Trump’s handling of Iran.
The war is spiking gas prices and generating broader economic concerns. And after President Donald Trump campaigned as a staunch critic of previous U.S. wars in the Middle East, some who subscribed to his anti-interventionist, “America First” pledges are accusing his administration of betrayal.
Trump tasked Vance – a leading figure in the anti-interventionist right who reportedly expressed concerns about launching the war – with negotiating an end to the conflict. The peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan failed to produce a deal, though.
Trump has tasked Vance with negotiating an end to the unpopular war
Vance’s remarks dovetailed with polling that showed the administration struggling with young voters — with just half of young Republicans and Republican-leaning independents saying in one survey that they approved of Trump’s approach to Iran — and a series of recent setbacks that had critics mocking the vice president’s political touch.
Over three days, Vance failed to strike a deal to end the Iran war, was unsuccessful in keeping a key European ally in office, and got pulled into a fight with the Pope.
“What a week for the @VP! He took the unusual step of campaigning for Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, who lost in a landslide today and led peace talks in Pakistan, which ended in failure yesterday. Not the time to buy a Powerball ticket!” former Barack Obama campaign chief David Axelrod said on X.
Vance’s political acumen under scrutiny amid Iran talks
Vance has typically been seen as one of the administration’s best messengers. But his political skills are under scrutiny as his party heads into a midterm election that will decide control of Congress.
The vice president is helping lead the GOP’s midterm push in a tough election cycle for the party that will set up a 2028 presidential race where Vance could be on the ballot. He is under pressure to help turn the tide for the GOP, but has run into trouble as he tries to establish himself as the future leader of the MAGA movement.
President Donald Trump has increasingly given his No. 2 challenging foreign policy assignments, sending him to Jerusalem last fall to help enforce a tepid ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
More recently, the vice president flew to Budapest, Hungary on April 6 to campaign for Orbán, a close Trump ally whose conservative populism influenced Trump’s political movement.
It is unusual for U.S. officials to campaign for a foreign leader, and the move prompted criticism that the Trump administration was meddling in another country’s election.
When he came back to the U.S., Vance was on a plane to Islamabad, Pakistan for high-stakes talks with Iranian leaders that were aimed at turning a two-week ceasefire into a permanent peace deal.
Prominent MAGA figures have been deeply critical of the Iran war, putting Vance – a leading figure among the anti-interventionist right – in a tricky position over the last six weeks.
When marathon peace negotiations did not produce a deal, Democrats pounced on the 2028 hopeful.
“JD Vance proves he’s a lightweight twice in 48 hours,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential Vance 2028 rival, wrote on social media.
A day after Vance-led negotiations in Pakistan failed to produce a deal, Hungary’s Orbán lost his reelection campaign after more than a decade in power, despite the Trump VP’s eleventh-hour campaign push.
Top GOP strategist turned prominent Trump critic Mike Murphy wrote on social media, “JD Vance can now claim to be the political kiss of death in ten time zones and two continents!”
VP shrugs off setbacks
Vance shrugged off Orbán’s defeat on “Special Report with Bret Baier” on Fox News. He said in the April 13 interview that he wanted to back an important ally, regardless of whether victory was likely.
“We didn’t go because we expected Victor to cruise to an election victory,” Vance said. “We went because it was the right thing to do to stand behind a person who had stood by us for a very long time.”
The vice president also said in Georgia that he remains optimistic about an agreement with Iran. Trump backed up Vance on April 13, saying he’d “done a good job” in the discussions. It was not immediately clear if he planned to tap the VP to lead a proposed second round of talks.
Vance and Trump are both appearing at Turning Point USA events this week, as they seek to fire up a core group of voters who helped them defy the political odds during the last presidential election. The group’s charismatic founder and close Vance friend, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot while speaking on a college campus last September.
Vance ally Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley told USA TODAY he didn’t want to “grade” how well Vance did in Islamabad. But he said the vice president is “a consummate team player.”
The jury is still out on whether Vance, a former Ohio senator, can hold together Trump’s political coalition or land a lasting peace deal with Iran.
Amid Vance’s own difficulties are growing signs Republicans will face strong political headwinds in November. Among all Americans, just 37% support Trump’s handling of Iran, a Pew Research Center survey released in March found. Gas prices have also spiked, and global economists are warning of broad fallout.
Sen. Jon Husted, another Vance friend who replaced the Ohioan in the upper chamber, told USA TODAY the VP is “playing an important role” that’s consistent with his worldview and values.
“You can’t learn to be tough without doing tough things,” Husted said, “and I think he’s perfect for tough assignments.”
Contributing: Zach Schermele, Kenny Ford