WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� JD Vance was supposed to be spending the week the kind of event a potential presidential candidate like the vice president typically uses to speak to a wide audience about his life and values ahead of a campaign.
Instead, the rollout of Vance鈥檚 second book, has been largely crowded out by something else he鈥檚 put his name on:
The Republican vice president has embraced the role of chief defender of the agreement he and President Donald Trump signed with Tehran, giving a series of interviews touting the memorandum of understanding as a success and .
It鈥檚 a striking emergence for a politician who was known for his skepticism of foreign military interventions and when Trump launched it in late February.
The vice president is poised to yoke himself further to the conflict鈥檚 outcome on Friday, when he鈥檚 expected to travel to Switzerland to kick off a new phase of negotiations with Iran. He was originally expected to attend a formal signing ceremony for the deal, but Trump formally instead.
Vance becoming a hype man for the agreement seems to be an all-in gamble that, should he decide to seek the White House in 2028, voters will reward him for being the face of ending an unpopular conflict.
It鈥檚 also setting Vance up as the presumptive fall-guy should the deal with Iran falter.
Trump joked about such a possibility on Wednesday.
鈥淚f it works out, I鈥檓 going to take the credit. If it doesn鈥檛 work out, I鈥檓 blaming JD,鈥� Trump said.
Officials release text of the deal after backlash
The White House in a statement called Vance the president’s 鈥渞ight-hand man and an invaluable member of the President鈥檚 talented national security team.鈥�
“That鈥檚 why the Vice President was trusted to lead these negotiations alongside Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said. “What President Trump and his team achieved on the battlefield and at the negotiating table is nothing short of remarkable and will strengthen American security for years to come.鈥�
But backlash, including from conservatives, began growing this week after the U.S. digitally signed the memorandum of understanding with Iran on Sunday.
Luke Schroeder, a spokesman for the vice president, said in a statement: 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate that some Republicans are attempting to undermine the President鈥檚 efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East and ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon.鈥�
Officials gave shifting answers about when they would release the text, but leaked copies of a draft were quickly met with anger and skepticism from , as well as and pro-Israel advocates. Their criticisms included concerns that the deal, meant to open a two-month negotiating period, seemed to offer Iran wins up front while guaranteeing little in return, and that Trump鈥檚 stated reason for launching the conflict, to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, remains unresolved.
Vance has reiterated that Iran must meet its obligations.
鈥淚f they don鈥檛 behave properly, they don鈥檛 get any of the benefits of this bargain,鈥� he said Tuesday on Fox 海角社区app Channel鈥檚 鈥淔ox & Friends.”
In response to the backlash and mounting questions, the U.S. on Wednesday .
The agreement states that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble, must at minimum be diluted under international supervision. It also states that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons 鈥� a commitment it has made previously. But beyond stating that the U.S. and Iran will negotiate over Iran’s nuclear program, other commitments still need to be worked out.
Criticism on the right persisted after the text was released.
Conservative radio host Erick Erickson, a hawk who has defended the war, said Wednesday: 鈥淭his is an American surrender.鈥�
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, criticized the agreement and said to reporters, 鈥淚 think the president, unfortunately, is receiving bad advice.鈥�
Trump’s 鈥極peration Epic Fury鈥� has angered wings of his movement
The conflict, which has stretched into its fourth month, has cleaved Trump鈥檚 broad Make America Great Again coalition and angered both those who favored a harder line against Iran and those drawn to Trump鈥檚 鈥淎merica First鈥� foreign policy underscored by a message of 鈥渘o new wars.鈥�
Critics, including Republicans, have already started pointing fingers in Vance’s direction, questioning whether the deal resembles the struck by Democratic President Barack Obama and whether this new agreement achieves Trump鈥檚 stated objectives for launching the war.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally and Iran hawk, had been skeptical of the agreement and referred to Vance on social media as 鈥渢he architect of the deal.”
After the agreement was released, Graham issued a tepid statement of support, saying, 鈥淲hether or not the United States can reach an acceptable, verifiable deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program and other issues is yet to be determined, but I see little downside to trying.鈥�
Ben Domenech, The Daily Wire鈥檚 opinion editor, said on Fox 海角社区app that everything he was hearing about the deal 鈥渟eems bad鈥� and appeared to cast blame on Vance by alluding to his first book, 鈥淗illbilly Elegy.”
鈥淎re we going to backslide into being some kind of 鈥榟illbilly Obama鈥� kind of GOP?鈥� Domenech said.
GOP allies say Vance can navigate the politics
The Trump administration has not offered formal briefings to Congress on the details of the memorandum, but Vance has quietly started doing outreach to some Republican senators on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, a close ally of Vance’s, said the vice president would be able to assuage even critics within his own party who are skeptical of the deal because 鈥淛D is just the president鈥檚 messenger, and the president鈥檚 going to prove them all wrong.鈥�
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said the deal 鈥渃ertainly adds to the national security and geopolitical chops鈥� of Vance, who spent two years as a U.S. senator for Ohio before ascending to the vice presidency.
But Cramer acknowledged the risks if the agreement goes awry.
鈥淚 guess the nice thing is, if you鈥檙e not the No. 1 person, you can take credit and avoid risk, avoid the criticism, but probably not so easily,鈥� Cramer said.
Vance argues Iran is not a quagmire like the Iraq war
In interviews this week, Vance has sought to speak directly to the skeptics in his party, a preview of the difficult explanations he may be pressed to make as a candidate on the war.
On Megyn Kelly’s show, the vice president said the critics 鈥渂elieve Iranian propaganda鈥� about the deal. But he acknowledged some of the frustrations on the hawkish right while trying to reassure the anti-interventionists that the Iran conflict isn’t the war in Iraq, where he served as a Marine.
鈥淲e were never going to get the quagmire that a lot of people were worrying about because Donald Trump is just not George W. Bush,鈥� he said.
Democrats have stressed that even as Vance becomes the face of the Iran deal, the fate of any administration official who harbors presidential aspirations 鈥� particularly hawkish Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has largely been quiet in the agreement’s final phases 鈥� will be tied to its outcome.
鈥淚 think any member of this administration is going to rise or fall on the basis of the Iran war and the handling of the economy, and I don鈥檛 think there are exceptions,鈥� said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.
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Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report.
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