Vice President JD Vance held his first White House briefing since Karoline Leavitt's departure, declining to endorse John Thune for Senate Republican leader while dismissing the Iran conflict as a war. With North Carolina mail ballots shipping Friday, Vance framed the midterms as a choice between Republican "safety, security and prosperity" and Democratic alignment with "fraudsters, criminals, and far-left interest groups."
Vance cited a "very good relationship" with Thune but deferred the leadership decision to Republican senators, a day after Thune broke with Trump on beef imports and data centers. On Iran, Vance said major combat operations lasted six weeks after February 28 strikes, acknowledged recent flare-ups including Sunday's US raids and Iranian missile fire at a Kuwait base, but claimed oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz has nearly returned to pre-conflict levels.
Trump's approval has sunk near a record low as the conflict has killed 18 US troops and thousands in Iran and Lebanon since February. The administration has deployed over 50,000 troops to the region, pulling assets from Europe and the Indo-Pacific. Vance insisted the US would not resume talks until Iran ends attacks on commercial shipping, while fuel prices threaten Republican congressional control.
Vance refused to distance himself from Tucker Carlson despite Carlson's recent call for Trump's removal over alleged consideration of preemptive nuclear strikes, saying he would not let political disagreements ruin friendships. Iran accuses the US of a war crime for a strike on a wedding party; Vance said the US is investigating but cast doubt on Iranian casualty reports. Trump has privately discussed declaring the Iran war over and posted a "Mission Accomplished" banner last week.