Over a candlelit dinner at the Palace of Versailles on 17 June, Donald Trump signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding – a deal intended to end the war with Iran. But as the president basked in the gilded backdrop, it was his vice-president, JD Vance, who has been left to defend an agreement that is already unravelling.
Vance spent Thursday at the White House briefing room, brushing aside questions about whether Trump had positioned him as the “fall guy” for the unpopular deal. “I think the president was joking,” Vance said, referring to Trump’s admission the previous day that he might blame the vice-president if the agreement collapses.
“JD Vance defends Trump's Iran deal as Netanyahu threatens to undermine it amid White House tensions.”
The tensions between the two men are laid bare in a forthcoming book, Regime Change, by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. According to an excerpt, Trump lashed out at Vance last year for not repeating his line that US planes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. Vance had told ABC News: “Severely damaged versus obliterated, I’m not exactly sure what the difference is.” Intelligence at the time reportedly suggested the strikes did not destroy the program.
When Vance suggested Trump soften some lines in his speech about the Iran operation, the president snapped: “I know what I’m doing.” The book claims Trump turned his back on the vice-president.
Vance, a military veteran and critic of foreign wars, has become the administration’s point person on Iran, shuttling between Washington and Pakistan for negotiations. He has also taken on Israel, warning that if he were in its position, he “might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
But the deal faces a more direct threat from Benjamin Netanyahu. US intelligence officials have reportedly warned the administration that the Israeli prime minister will try to undermine the agreement, according to The Washington Post. Netanyahu is under intense political pressure to continue operations in Lebanon, which have killed over 4,000 people since the war began.
Trump himself has grown critical of Netanyahu’s approach. “Too many people have been killed,” he said, adding: “You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody.” Yet Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade fire despite the 60-day interim agreement, which includes a complete end to Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
For Vance, the timing is awkward. He just published a memoir that intensified speculation about a 2028 presidential run. Some Republicans see a thankless assignment. “It’s not in the president’s nature to cede the limelight and he’s done that here,” said strategist Matt Mackowiak. A longtime Republican operative put it more bluntly: “It’s classic Trump to throw JD under the bus.”