Tag Archive for: jd vance

The Critical Role JD Vance Plays on the American Right

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Vice President JD Vance’s life has taken him from the hollowed-out town of Middletown, Ohio, to the halls of power. Between his challenging upbringing, his service in the Marine Corps, his stint in Silicon Valley, his Senate tenure, and now his vice presidency, it’s easy to lose sight of the two short days leading up to President Donald Trump picking Vance as his running mate.

Reflect on those two days in the middle of July, and you’ll see the distillation of a long career arc for such a young man.

Author Frank DeVito joins “The Signal Sitdown” this week to discuss his new book on the vice president, titled “JD Vance and the Future of the Republican Party,” and the role Vance was born to play in American political life.

Trump came millimeters from death on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, when an assassin’s bullet grazed the then-former president’s right ear on July 13, 2024. The Left had not been shy about its violent Trump fantasies, but the Butler assassination attempt proved some were deadly serious about killing Trump.

With the Republican National Convention starting that Monday, Trump was in the final stages of choosing a running mate. But that debate now took on new meaning: What if our worst nightmare came true and they killed the president? The answer, as the president cried from the stage in Butler, swarmed by Secret Service agents, was to “fight, fight, fight.”

But who could step into the ring? Who could maintain the coalition Trump built? Who could keep the MAGA movement alive?

Trump’s near-death experience triggered an around-the-clock debate among the Right’s most powerful players on who could fill that role. On July 15, 2024, Trump chose Vance.

Vance, DeVito told The Daily Signal, is “the heir apparent to the Republican party at a really interesting time.”

Trump has overseen “a complete overhaul of the Republican party’s views on everything from foreign policy interventionism to trade and labor policy,” DeVito explained. “Everything is shifting. Different demographics are coming in and going out of the Republican party. So, it’s a unique time of change in the party and Trump was uniquely the presider over all of that.”

But “it’s been one man at the helm, a uniquely charismatic man, for over a decade,” DeVito added.

Trump has had “so much power, so much influence over the last decade that there’s a unique question of who comes next that you don’t always have when you have a presidential changeover.”

Over the course of the 2024 campaign, Trump built a broad electoral coalition that included the Teamsters and tech giants from Silicon Valley, disaffected liberals and social conservatives, health nuts and Hispanics, and nationalists and libertarians.

All arrows in that coalition point to Vance, DeVito explains.

“So, I think the reason he’s so able to be kind of at the center of this, um, this coalition is, well, two things,” he said.

“You have usually these dichotomies of the intellectuals and the people who do stuff in politics, right?”

Some of intellectuals, DeVito says, “are just really not good at understanding how their theories play out in practical coalitional politics.”

“On the other side, you have plenty of people who are involved in politics who don’t read or think very deeply about much of anything,” DeVito continued.

“The unique thing about Vance, I think, is he’s very good at both,” DeVito suggested.

“When you have somebody who’s that good at navigating coalitional politics and getting elected to office, but who can also tell you the theoretical differences between a West Coast Straussian and a Catholic integralist,” DeVito continued, “I think it’s a really unique mixture of political acumen and intellectual depth in the conservative movement that not a lot of people have.”

AUTHOR

Bradley Devlin

Bradley Devlin is politics editor for The Daily Signal. Send an email to Bradley. Bradley on X: .

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ROOKE: Vance And Rubio Deliver One-Two Punch To Our Western Allies In Munich

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Few maneuvers capture the essence of strategic persuasion as vividly as the “one-two punch” masterfully delivered over two years at the Munich Security Conference (MSC), first in 2025 by Vice President JD Vance and again in 2026 by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Vance’s MSC address served as the initial jab, calling Europe to task for its internal neglect of democratic values, cultural heritage, and the needs of its people. A year later, following what can only be seen as a period of American punishment through tougher U.S. policies under President Donald Trump, Rubio delivered the follow-up hook.

In Rubio’s speech Feb. 14, he welcomed Europe back into a renewed transatlantic fold, calling on the critical connections that bind our histories and heritage.

This diplomatic choreography not only revitalized alliances, as evidenced by the Munich crowd’s rare standing ovation for Rubio, but also aligned closely with Christian theology, a cornerstone of Rubio’s political homily. By invoking our shared Christian roots, Rubio underscored that Western civilization, forged in the crucible of faith, can be preserved only by returning to these principles. In an era of global fragmentation, this approach demonstrates that tough love, repentance, and redemption, which are hallmarks of Christian doctrine, are not just spiritual ideals but practical tools for saving the West.

At the heart of Vance’s rebuke was a charge against other Western leaders for neglecting ordinary citizens whose concerns about mass migration, cultural dilution, and economic insecurity were being dismissed or criminalized. He invoked cases like U.K. arrests for silent prayer near abortion clinics, framing these as symptoms of a broader malaise where elites prioritized ideological conformity over the liberties that define Western society.

Vance’s tone was urgent and paternalistic, made starker by the fact the U.S. was a child of Europe. However, he urged Europe not to fear its own voters, stunning the audience and forcing a reckoning with how Europe had strayed from its heritage of liberty, rooted in Enlightenment ideals but underpinned by centuries of Christian moral theology.

This initial punch landed hard, setting the stage for a year of what Rubio would later allude to as punishment for forsaking Western ideals in their governance. Under Trump, American policy shifted toward reciprocity. Trump demanded that NATO allies meet defense spending targets. He placed tariffs on European goods to counter unfair trade practices. The U.S. leveraged its military might to pressure Europe to implement reforms, including halting migration flows, securing its borders, and revitalizing industries.

While some countries balked at the requirements, seeing them only as punishments, the U.S. clearly regarded them as corrective measures for wrongs committed against its people and the ideals of Western civilization. It echoed biblical notions of chastisement as a means of growth. Vance’s speech was the verbal harbinger of this phase, exposing Europe’s neglect of its people and heritage.

But Europe needed to hear the U.S.’s rebuke of its failings. Without Vance’s speech, they wouldn’t have understood why Rubio’s address will go down in history (I hope) as the catalyst for a renewed Western civilization, one that doesn’t hate or feel ashamed of its heritage but embraces it as one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments.

Rubio’s 2026 address marked the redemptive second punch that brought Europe back into the fold. It built on Vance’s foundation but pivoted toward unity and renewal, rather than chastisement. He emphasized the importance of shared bonds and a path forward. He opened by invoking the MSC’s history amid Cold War divisions, celebrating the transatlantic alliance’s past triumphs over communism.

Still, Rubio didn’t hold back in acknowledging both the U.S. and Europe’s mutual mistakes in pushing deindustrialization, outsourcing our sovereignty, appeasing a climate change cult, and allowing unchecked mass migration that “threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people.”

“We made these mistakes together, and now, together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward, to rebuild,” Rubio said, positioning the U.S. under Trump as a leader in this renewal, and inviting Europe to join not out of obligation but shared destiny.

“We care deeply about your future and ours,” Rubio said, “because we know that the fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own.”

Central to Rubio’s redemptive message was our shared Christian heritage. He wove it as the thread binding the West forever. He repeatedly invoked the West’s Christian faith as the “sacred inheritance” linking America and Europe. He credits it with the West’s cultural marvels, such as Mozart, Michelangelo, and the ideas of liberty and the rule of law.

Rubio argued that Western civilization’s pride and confidence stem from this heritage, and without it, the West risks civilizational erasure. Rubio framed Christianity’s universal truths of love, justice, and redemption as the West’s unique gift to humanity. He correctly warned that in a modern world threatened by authoritarianism, secularism, and cultural erosion, embracing our Christian heritage is the only salvation for the West.

Together, Vance and Rubio model a diplomacy that saves the West not through power but spiritual renewal. Grounded in Christian theology, this strategy reconnects the West to its heritage, ensuring survival amid contemporary perils. As Rubio eloquently put it, the West must be “unapologetic in our heritage and proud of this common inheritance” to shape a future worthy of its past.

It’s no surprise that this message landed with leaders in Europe. Despite their efforts to ignore or discount their heritage, it is part of what makes them unique and binds them forever to the U.S.

Many accuse the Trump administration of being isolationist. The idea was never to pit the U.S. against the world, but rather to expose the rest of the West to their failings and to offer them a path to renewal. Vance and Rubio showed the West the paths before them. It is now up to the leaders to decide if it will be punishment or redemption.

AUTHOR

Mary Rooke

Commentary and Analysis Writer. Follow Mary Rooke on X: @MaryRooke. Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

JD Vance Mocks Minnesota Protesters Outside His Supposed Hotel

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Vice President JD Vance responded to a video Friday that appeared to show protesters banging pots and pans outside a Minneapolis, Minnesota, hotel they apparently believed Vance would be staying.

The vice president responded with a “cry laughing” emoji to the repost of the video.

The video’s caption claimed the protestors were students at the University of Minnesota.

“Libs in Minneapolis are currently standing outside a hotel in -15 degree weather banging pots and playing instruments to keep JD Vance from sleeping inside his hotel,” X user johnny maga posted. “Little do they know, JD Vance landed back in D.C. 5 hours ago.”

Vance spoke at a meeting between business leaders, law enforcement and immigration officers in Minneapolis Thursday, Fox 9 reported. He said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are doing an “incredible job” and accused the media of “lying about the job they do every day.”

He also advised protesters to carry out their first amendment rights “peacefully,” the outlet reported.

“If you assault a law enforcement officers, the Trump administration is going to prosecute you under the fullest extent of the law,” he warned.

Minnesota has faced protests following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, who allegedly attempted to use her car as a weapon against an ICE agent on Jan. 7.

Since then, violent protests have taken over the city of Minneapolis and other parts of Minnesota. Protesters are demanding that ICE agents leave the city.

Vance also responded to reports accusing ICE agents of arresting a 5-year-old in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.

“I came to find that the 5-year-old wasn’t arrested, but that his dad was an illegal alien, and that when they went to arrest him, the father ran,” Vance said.

“What are they supposed to do? Let a 5-year-old freeze to death? Not arrest an illegal alien? If the argument is that you can’t arrest people who have violated federal laws because they have children, then every single parent is going to be given complete immunity. That doesn’t make any sense,” he said. 

AUTHOR

Alexis Lapp

Contributor

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

‘You Don’t Have To Apologize For Being White’: JD Vance Declares Trump Admin Dumped DEI Into ‘Dustbin Of History’

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Vice President J.D. Vance told attendees of Turning Point USA’s (TPUSA) AmericaFest gathering Sunday that the Trump administration had relegated diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs into “the dustbin of history.”

During the event, Vance received the endorsement of TPUSA CEO Erika Kirk for the Republican nomination for president in the 2028 presidential election, even though he is not a formally-declared candidate. During his address, Vance said the only requirement for his supporters was to be a “great American patriot.”

WATCH: J.D. VANCE AT AMERICAFEST: “NO PURITY TESTS”

“We have finally made it clear that in the United States, we believe in hard work and merit. Unlike the left, we stand against treating anybody, and I love what Nikki [Minaj] said about this, we don’t treat anybody different because of their race or their sex,” Vance said. “So we have relegated to the dustbin of history, which is exactly where it belongs. In the United States of America, you don’t have to apologize for being white anymore.”

“And if you’re an Asian, you don’t have to talk around your skin color when you’re applying for college, because we judge people based on who they are, not on ethnicity and things they can’t control,” Vance continued. “We don’t persecute you for being male, for being straight, for being gay, for being anything. The only thing that we demand is that you be a great American patriot. And if you’re that you’re very much on our team.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending DEI programs in the federal government within hours of taking office on Jan. 20, while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the Department of War would scrap quotas for promotions in a Sept. 30 speech to assembled general and flag officers.

A report published in “Econ Journal Watch” found that a series of studies by McKinsey and Company showing a positive impact on financial performance by firms embracing diversity were not able to be replicated. Major corporations in the United States, including McDonald’s, Walmart and Coors have been backing away from DEI initiatives.

AUTHOR

Harold Hutchison

Media Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

We Went Inside The Patriotic Ropes As Thousands Lined Up To See JD Vance, Erika Kirk Pick Up Charlie’s Mantle

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THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI — Seven weeks to the day since Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a college campus in Utah, Erika Kirk and Vice President JD Vance took the stage at another university, honoring the late founder of Turning Point USA in an emotional, packed rally.

WATCH: VP JD Vance And Erika Kirk Speak At Turning Point USA Event At The University Of Mississippi

The Daily Caller was a part of the traveling press with Vance on the trip to Ole Miss.

Though a stormy day in Oxford, Mississippi, the vice president was cheery as he and the second lady exited the plane and were greeted by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. Vance’s staff, administration officials and the press buzzed with excitement on the way to the trip, as reports began to circulate that thousands of students were already lining up for the event.

Lines of students snaked around the Sandy and John Black Pavilion arena ahead of the event, which was filled to the brim an hour before Erika Kirk took the stage.

As the vice president’s motorcade zipped through Mississippi and then campus, the Daily Caller watched from within as Americans got out of their car. Some lined up on the side of the road or stopped on the side walk to cheer and wave, eager to catch a glimpse of the vice president.

Upon entering the arena, the Caller was placed just feet from the stage to witness the vice president address the already roaring crowd.

Ten-thousand students donned MAGA hats, waved American flags and posters reading, “I am Charlie Kirk.” In the corner of the stage was a chair with a “freedom” t-shirt draped over it and a microphone, a tribute to Charlie, who was assassinated Sept. 10.

Many of the students were there to see the vice president and Erika, but also memorialize Charlie and learn how they could carry on his legacy.

Prior to Kirk taking the stage, the arena sang “God Bless the USA.” A video of Erika’s late husband then played. His voice, introducing Erika, echoed throughout the arena.

The Caller watched as students rose to their feet as the new CEO of TPUSA walked out onto the stage, wiping her tears and acknowledging the crowd. Erika donned a “freedom shirt,” the same design Charlie was wearing when he was assassinated.

The arena seemed to hold its breath; the audience was somber, yet grateful that Erika had found the strength to carry on her husband’s legacy.

The 10,000 students fell silent as Erika gathered herself behind the lectern.

Then a shout broke through and echoed off the walls.

“We love you!” a student in the upper seating section yelled.

Ole Miss students remained standing for the entirety of Erika’s speech, which lasted 30 minutes.

The packed stadium fixated on her every word, clapping and cheering at appropriate moments, but remaining mostly silent.

From the Caller’s position, there were very few phones in hands capturing the moment. The students’ eyes stayed on Erika, hardly ever leaving as she encouraged them to keep up her husband’s fight.

Kirk told the students that she prayed about appearing at this stop alongside Vance, saying she heard Charlie in her heart urging her to do the campus tour, to “reclaim the territory” from the opposition.

“You guys are the heartbeat of Turning Point USA. You’re the heartbeat of this organization,” Erika told the crowd of students, switching between telling stories of her late husband and encouraging them to get involved and profess their conservative values.

“I want to encourage you, especially the students here: find your voice. You are the courageous generation. That’s what you are,” Erika told the students.

“All of you, Gen Z, you are the courageous generation. Hear me when I say that my husband believed that to his core, that’s why he went on campuses. That’s why he was trying to reach you. You are the courageous generation. Own it,” she continued.

It was then Erika’s turn to introduce the main event.

Calling him a close friend and recounting how he flew to comfort and support her in wake of the TPUSA founder’s murder, Erika encouraged the students to welcome the vice president.

The crowed erupted as Vance walked on stage, some students standing on their tippy toes to try to get a better look. Many pulled out phones to capture the moment.

Vance embraced Erika, looked out at the crowd and took his place at the lectern.

It was a warm welcome that caused Vance to announce that he completely scrapped his prepared remarks to speak from the heart.

Vance explained to the students that his role at the event wasn’t really to lecture the students, but rather to pick up Charlie’s mic and take questions from college students who disagree with him, to debate them and hopefully change their minds, like the Turning Point founder set out to do years ago.

The vice president first memorialized his friend, an emotional and strong address.

But then he pivoted to the real reason the crowd gathered there, for the opportunity to debate the vice president.

The line of students waiting to ask Vance a question never shortened in length, wrapping around the inside of the arena. The vice president continuously remarked that he would take as many as he could, returning to Washington, D.C., an hour and a half later.

Though some students asking questions voiced their support for Vance, others disagreed with the vice president or sought his explanation on various administration moves, or even his own personal beliefs.

“I can tell that most of you apparently agree with a lot of what I said and I’m sure that a lot of you disagree with some of the things I said. That’s O.K,” Vance said.

“We don’t need in our political movement people who agree with us on every single issue,” Vance continued. “What we need is people of good faith, who love the United States of America and are willing to work hard to save it.”

Students asked Vance to clarify his position on abortion, with one girl expressing that she felt the vice president had changed his stance. Another student challenged the administration’s position on Israel. One attendee pressed the vice president on why Trump wants to primary Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie. Another student wanted to know how Vance raised his children in an interreligious marriage.

Vance, though sometimes poking fun at students for their lengthy questions, was joyful and composed as he took some somewhat contentious questions.

Much of the arena seemed impressed with each answer from the vice president. Some students laughed, cheered. Some around the Caller remarked as Vance retorted each student’s question with apparent ease.

Following his remarks, the arena broke out in a “48” chant, a nod at Vance potentially succeeding Trump in the White House.

“Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Vance laughed.

Throughout the night, Erika and Vance emphasized how Charlie’s assassin didn’t end Turning Point USA or its mission Sept. 10. The arena was one example. And the students who lined up in droves to hear how they could continue on the mission of Charlie Kirk were another.

Eventually, the vice president’s staff signaled to the Caller that the event would be wrapping up soon and Vance then did the same to the students.

“I think one of the critical lessons of Charlie Kirk’s life to his dying breath, this was a man who never lost hope in his Creator and never lost hope in the United States of America,” the vice president said to cheers from the crowd. “So let’s remember that and carry that forward.”

AUTHOR

Reagan Reese

White House Correspondent

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

JD Vance Believes Trump Admin Will Ensure Troops Get Their Pay During Shutdown

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Vice President JD Vance said he expects the Trump administration to continue paying U.S service members as the government shutdown nears the one-month mark.

Vance told reporters during a visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday that the Department of War (DOW) is working to identify new funding to pay the troops, but acknowledged that the administration could not tap enough money to cover all federal workers missing their salaries due to the shutdown. President Donald Trump previously directed the DOW to reshuffle $8 billion in unused funding to ensure that active-duty military personnel did not miss a paycheck in mid-October.

“We do think that we can continue paying the troops at least for now,” Vance said following a meeting with Senate Republicans. “But we’ve got food stamp benefits that are set to run out in a week. We’re trying to keep as much open as possible. We just need the Democrats to actually help us out.”

The shutdown would end if just five additional Senate Democrats crossed party lines to support a House-passed bipartisan stopgap bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and a majority of Democratic lawmakers voted against that measure for the 13th time Tuesday afternoon.

Vance did not explain how the administration planned to cover military personnel’s salaries for another pay period. If the Trump administration were not able to tap unused funding and the government is still closed, it would be the first time in American history that active-duty military personnel have missed a paycheck.

The White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Military families have faced weeks of financial stress from the prospect of missing a paycheck during the 28-day shutdown.

The Independent Women group sent letters to top Democratic leaders on Tuesday detailing firsthand accounts of Americans impacted by the funding lapse, the Daily Caller first reported. One letter mentions a Virginia military wife who said her family will not have enough money for food if her husband does not receive his paycheck this Friday.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and air traffic controllers, are also reporting to work without pay during the shutdown. The American Federation of Government Employees, the nation’s largest federal workers’ union representing roughly 800,000 employees, has urged Democrats to end the shutdown to no avail.

The Pentagon reportedly accepted a $130 million donation to partially cover military personnel’s pay during the funding lapse. Though President Donald Trump said the unnamed donor wished to remain anonymous, The New York Times first reported the benefactor to be Timothy Mellon, heir to the Mellon banking fortune.

Mellon is one of Trump’s largest donors and doled out $50 million in support of his 2024 presidential campaign.

“He doesn’t want publicity,” Trump told the press aboard Air Force One while en route to Malaysia on Friday. “He prefers that his name not be mentioned, which is pretty unusual in the world I come from, and in the world of politics, you want your name mentioned.”

AUTHOR

Adam Pack

Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Majority Of Voters Say Trump’s DC Crime Crackdown Was ‘Justified,’ Feel ‘Unsafe’

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A majority of Americans back President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in the District of Columbia and believe large American cities are unsafe, according to recent polling.

A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released Monday found that 54% of registered voters said the president’s crime-fighting efforts in the nation’s capital are “justified and necessary.” The favorable results come as the administration is touting a marked decline in crime since the president’s federal takeover of D.C., including a 12-day streak of zero reported homicides.

“This town averaged one murder every other day for the last 20-30 years, which means in two short weeks the president and his team have saved six or seven lives, people who would have been killed on the streets of DC,” Vice President JD Vance told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.

“[Those individuals] are now living, breathing, spending time with their families because the president had the willpower to say no more, we’re not going to give the streets of DC over to vagrants and robbers and murderers,” Vance added.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro also attributed the falling crime statistics to the president’s crackdown efforts.

“The deterrent effect of all that’s going on as a result of the president’s move to make D.C. safe and beautiful is literally changing the safety landscape of Washington,” Pirro said in a video posted to the social media platform X on Monday.

Fifty-four percent of respondents also support the president declaring a crime emergency in the nation’s capital and 56% believe the average big city in the United States is “unsafe,” according to the survey. A slight majority of registered voters — 51% — said Trump’s deployment of National Guard units to Washington would make the city more safe.

The pollster also found the Trump administration’s efforts received strong support among independents with 47% of that cohort backing Trump’s actions to reduce crime.

Robberies have declined by 42% and carjackings have seen an 85% drop over the past 14 days in Washington, D.C., according to statistics released by the DC Police Union on Monday. The union has notably backed the president’s takeover of the capital city’s law enforcement.

A member of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang was arrested in Washington on Sunday evening, a White House official told the Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese. The TdA member had several prior arrests and four immigration encounters, according to the official.

A Democratic National Committee presentation sponsored by the left-wing criminal justice group, Vera Action, argued Monday that the president’s crime reduction efforts are a “political liability” for Republicans.

Trump has floated Chicago as the next city where he could deploy federal resources and seek emergency powers to combat crime.

The online survey of 2,025 registered voters was conducted between Aug. 20 and Aug. 21.

AUTHOR

Adam Pack

Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

In Wake Of ‘Russiagate’ Revelations, Americans Are Demanding Indictments — Who Could Be First?

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Americans have called for officials to face consequences after the July declassification of documents regarding the intelligence community’s (IC) role in the false narrative that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 election, but the Trump administration could face legal hurdles.

A recent poll found that more than two-thirds of Americans want someone held accountable for what is now deemed “Russiagate” — and with JD Vance’s Sunday claim that “a lot of people [are going to] get indicted,” people are curious to see who will be held accountable by the grand jury investigation.

Former President Barack Obama’s Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) James Comey could be high on a list of potential indictments.

Comey headed the agency during the initiation and primary phase of the investigations into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election and accusations of potential connections between members of the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Comey was directly involved in the investigation. He told Congress the FBI had not verified the now-debunked Steele dossier before using it to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on Trump’s former campaign adviser Carter Page.

This FISA warrant allowed the FBI to conduct surveillance activities on Page, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) ultimately ruled the two final FISA directives against Page were invalid — including one Comey authorized in 2017.

In a July interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, law professor and author Jonathan Turley questioned whether the remarks made by both Comey and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan in their testimonies amounted to perjury.

Turley said both men are “sophisticated players” who are “very careful in how they word” their testimonies. They claimed in their testimonies there was no “malicious intent” in including the Steele dossier in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), but that mistakes may have been made, Turley told Ingraham.

“Comey portrayed himself as ignorant of all these countervailing sources,” Turley concluded.

Brennan might find himself in the same boat as Comey, especially given whistleblower accusations alleging Brennan played a key role in pushing for the dossier’s inclusion in the ICA.

Trump’s FBI launched a criminal investigation into Brennan and Comey in July, DOJ sources told Fox Digital. Two sources told the outlet the FBI viewed Comey and Brennan’s interactions as a “conspiracy,” but did not reveal specific details of what is being investigated.

President of Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, told the Daily Caller in an interview that investigating a conspiracy could open the door to related crimes, including perjury and the deprivation of civil rights under color of law.

Perjury is relatively easy to indict over, but not necessarily easy to convict, according to Fitton.

Even if any officials are indicted, there are still hurdles that need to be cleared, namely the statute of limitations, Fitton told the Caller. The standard statute of limitations (or the maximum amount of time to start the legal process) is five years, but the beginning of the Russian interference investigations was nearly 10 years ago.

To bypass the statute of limitations — which is necessary for turning indictments into convictions -— the accusers must prove the involved parties were participating in a conspiracy, not just “a series of desperate acts that don’t have any link” potentially woven together by the opposition party in political animus, Fitton told the Caller.

Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper wrote a July 30 op-ed in the New York Times (NYT) in an attempt to set the record straight. They claimed the Steele dossier was not used as a source or accounted for in the ICA’s analysis or conclusions, acknowledging the dossier was largely discredited.

However, a press release published by ODNI that same day claimed accompanying records show “Clapper and other senior Obama administration officials privately denounced the Steele dossier, despite simultaneously ensuring that the January 2017 ICA included it.”

These documents, like some of the other records declassified by the IC, are based on the testimony of a single, unnamed whistleblower — which could prove difficult in demonstrating malicious intent beyond a reasonable doubt.

A separate anonymous career intelligence officer who worked with House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) Democrats told the FBI in 2017 that then-Democrat California Rep. Adam Schiff allegedly approved leaking classified information with the goal of indicting Trump, according to a memo released Monday.

Schiff’s Senate office previously told the Caller the accusation was a “baseless [smear]” and questioned the credibility of the whistleblower.

Former FBI Special Agent in Charge Jody Weis told NBC 15 on Tuesday that leaking information is a crime.

“Leaking information is a crime, no doubt about it,” Weis stated. “Leaking information with the intent to smear a president, with the intent to perhaps indict a president, that should terrify every American in this country, regardless of party.”

When the whistleblower’s accusation was initially brought before the DOJ, officials allegedly dismissed the allegation of the leaking, claiming, “congressmen have immunity to all speech and actions made on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives,” according to the FBI memos. The DOJ was referencing the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause.

Former intelligence officials are not the only ones who may face indictments. The recently declassified documents from the John Durham 2023 Special Counsel report annex may open the door for criminal charges against Clinton campaign staff and other individuals in the Obama administration.

Information recently released to the public suggested former President Barack Obama planned to snuff out the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information and her use of a private email server. Simultaneously, the records revealed the FBI failed to investigate information alleging the Democratic Party was planning to connect Trump to the “Russian mafia.”

But challenges can still arise in obtaining convictions, even though analysts assessed the declassified emails were authentic, according to documents.

The plaintiff still needs to overcome the statute of limitations and would have to show the courts, beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant’s alleged actions met the high legal standard for criminal intent.

As the head of a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, Fitton offered advice on how the Trump administration could overcome many of these hurdles, potentially obtaining indictments or even convictions.

Fitton told the Caller that by focusing their attention on the accusations of criminal activity in 2016, the administration is missing the “low-hanging fruit” of more recent corruption targets.

“To get at what happened in 2016 is gonna be very complicated; to get out what happened last year, that’s easy,” Fitton told the Caller. “There’s no statute of limitations, so you don’t have to weave in a grand conspiracy claim.”

Fitton gave examples of places the administration should focus its attention, including former Attorney General (AG) Merrick Garland’s unprosecuted referral for contempt and Comey’s Instagram post that Fitton claimed “basically threatened the president’s life.”

As for “Russiagate,” Fitton called for Trump to “appoint a special counsel that reports directly to him” to tackle the issue.

“The Justice Department is compromised because they’re going to have to investigate themselves in many of these issues, so is the FBI. So he’s got to have someone who’s free and clear of those bureaucracies, but with all the powers that come with the presidency and prosecuting cases, and that’s done through a presidential special counsel,” Fitton told the Caller.

“Because of the deep state actors that are still floating around … there has to be a more direct presidential intervention,” he added.

Derek VanBuskirk

Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

JD Vance Lays Out How Democrats ‘Tried To Rig’ Census, Redistricting

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Vice President JD Vance said Democrats were rigging the American political system by welcoming illegal immigrants and enacting “crazy gerrymanders” during an interview that aired on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Democrats in the Texas state legislature fled to Democrat-controlled states like New York and Illinois in order to thwart a GOP redistricting proposal that could net Republicans up to five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, while President Donald Trump called for a new census that would not include illegal immigrants in a Thursday morning post on Truth Social. Vance told host Maria Bartiromo that the effort to redistrict in Texas and other red states is a matter of Republicans showing “some spine.”

“Thankfully, under President Trump’s leadership we finally see some spine. You finally see some backbone in the Republican Party to fight back against these very aggressive Democratic dirty tricks,” Vance said. “But the only way for us to do it is to actually go and do the hard work to reset the scales a little bit. We want to redo the census, but importantly, we want to redistrict some of these red states, and we want to make the congressional apportionment fair in this country. Again, you cannot do it unless Republicans actually take some very decisive action in the months to come.”

WATCH:

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday that he has asked a court to declare the seats of the fleeing Democrats vacant, accusing them of carrying out an “out-of-state rebellion.” A political action committee founded by former Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Powered by People, has helped fund the Texas Democrats who fled to blue states, as has a different organization backed by left-wing activist George Soros.

Vance outlined some of the reasons that Republicans were seeking to redraw congressional districts in red states.

“I didn’t realize this until a couple of years ago, you know for apportioning representatives, you actually count illegal aliens. Even though they’re not… supposed to vote, they still sometimes do,” Vance told Bartiromo. “California has way more House seats than it should because they have such a high population of illegal aliens, so they get rewarded for welcoming illegal aliens into their state, actually asking the taxpayers of states like Ohio to subsidize them.”

“And then those same taxpayers in Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere, they have fewer congressional representatives because of what California has allowed to happen,” Vance continued. “That’s ridiculously unfair, and the only real way to fight back against us is for us to redistrict in some ways as aggressively as these hard blue states have done.”

New York re-drew its congressional districts after the 2022 midterm elections, creating a map that endangered as many as six out of the 11 Republicans elected to the House of Representatives. Illinois Democrats re-drew their congressional districts to take out two Republicans, including then-Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a prominent outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, prior to the 2022 midterm elections.

AUTHOR

Harold Hutchison

Media Reporter

RELATED ARTICLES:

‘They Broke The Law’: JD Vance Says ‘A Lot Of People’ Will Be Indicted For Russia Hoax

‘You’re Using The Same Tactics’: JB Pritzker Ducks Question When Pressed On Illinois Gerrymandering Hypocrisy

Greg Abbott Fact-Checks Jasmine Crockett’s ‘Racist’ Redistricting Claims

Texas House Speaker Aims Sights On Runaway Dems

‘Have They Been Rigged?’: Scott Jennings Lists Blue States Where Dems Dominate Congressional Maps

RELATED VIDEO: If Texas, Ohio, and Florida redistrict it means 13 more GOP House seats!

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

‘Cost A Lot Of People Their Jobs’: JD Vance Slams Biden Admin For Deciding Products Would No Longer Be Made In America

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Vice President JD Vance on Thursday slammed former President Joe Biden’s administration during a speech at Nucor Steel Berkeley for deciding that products would be made overseas instead of in the United States.

Vance said that over the last few decades, political leaders forgot about the “core part of American national identity” by allowing the U.S. to rely on foreign powers for essential goods. The vice president said manufacturing facilities like Nucor immensely struggled over the last four years due to the Biden administration’s “crushing environmental regulations.”

“For a couple decades, though, our leaders forgot about that core part of American national identity. They decided that America would no longer be a manufacturing power,” Vance said. “Instead, we let the rest of the world make the necessary things that we needed for our homes and for our families. And when a nation decides to deindustrialize my friends, you know what else they stop using? The intermediate goods, the things that are essential to manufacturing, like steel that you all make right here in Nucor. So we stopped making the things that we needed.”

WATCH:

Nucor Steel’s leadership told Vance that the company’s facility in West Virginia that “sat idle” under the Biden administration due to its environmental rules. The vice president said that these types of regulations cost hard working Americans their good paying manufacturing jobs and wages.

“So when our leadership decides that Americans don’t want to make anything, you know what we do? We cost great businesses and corporations like Nuccor a lot of money, we cost great workers their wages and we cost a lot of people their jobs. And that was the policy of the last administration that came before us.”

Vance added that President Donald Trump’s administration wants American architecture to be “built with American hands and with great American steel.”

The Biden administration strived to make manufacturing eco-friendly by handing as much as $6 billion to 33 different projects in 20 states in order for them to reduce emissions generated by industrial production in March 2024. In Trump’s second term, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has repealed dozens of environmental regulations put in place by the Biden administration to lower costs and open up new job opportunities in the country.

The Trump administration placed reciprocal tariffs on other countries, which are currently under a 90-day pause, with the intent of returning manufacturing to the United States. Many union workers in the steel and auto industry have praised the administration’s move, stating that it will bring back jobs and help their industries flourish.

AUTHOR

Nicole Silverio

Media Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘Don’t You All Have Jobs?’: JD Vance Calls On Protesters Demonstrating Against His Event To Get ‘Back To Work’

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance To Tout First 100 Days At USA Steel Plant

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Vice President JD Vance will mark the administration’s first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term with a factory tour of the U.S.’s largest manufacturer of steel, the Daily Caller has learned.

Vance, alongside EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, will travel to Huger, South Carolina, on Thursday to visit a Nucor Steel Berkeley factory, which makes all its steel in the U.S., according to plans shared with the Daily Caller. The vice president and Zeldin will tour the factory while it is operating and then Vance will deliver remarks “touting the Trump administration ushering in America’s industrial renaissance during its first 100 days,” a White House official told the Caller.

“Nucor Steel employs tens of thousands of Americans in good paying jobs and produces key raw materials for defense, infrastructure, and domestic manufacturers, making our workers better off and our entire nation safer. The Trump administration is undoing onerous regulations and unfair trade rules to usher in an American industrial renaissance,” Taylor Van Kirk, the vice president’s press secretary, told the Caller in a statement.

With the president’s 100th day of his second term Tuesday, the White House has a week of celebration planned to tout Trump’s accomplishments. On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefed reporters with White House border czar Tom Homan on the administration’s efforts to secure the southern border. Photos of 100 illegal immigrants arrested and convicted for crimes, such as rape and murder, lined the White House drive where reporters work.

Leavitt plans to brief Tuesday about the state of the economy and the administration’s work alongside Department of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. In an effort to tackle both the economy and the “industrial renaissance” he plans to build, Trump has enacted a flurry of tariffs on various imports. In February, Trump signed an executive order resurrecting a 25% tariff on all foreign steel and aluminum, a move he made in his first term.

Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on about 90 countries in what the White House deemed “Liberation day” at the beginning of April. A week later, the president paused the tariffs on the countries and implemented a 10% baseline tariff. The steel tariffs remain in place as of late April.

“In just his first one hundred days President Trump has accomplished more than Joe Biden did in four years. President Trump has issued a record number of executive orders and is speeding through his key nominations, and Vice President Vance and the entire White House are taking their cues from the president’s breakneck pace,” Van Kirk said in a statement to the Caller.

“Most importantly, in just a hundred days, Americans have become safer, more prosperous, and more free: Border crossings hit their all-time low, wokeness is dead, waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government are on the retreat, inflation is down, military recruiting is way up, and the president is forcing other nations to come to the negotiating table and start treating American workers fairly,” she continued.

AUTHOR

Reagan Reese

White House correspondent. Follow Reagan on Twitter.

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Good Morning, America!

RELATED VIDEO: POTUS Trump did more for the American people in his first 100 days than Biden in four years

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Vice President Vance, Family Join Good Friday Liturgy At Vatican Between Worldwide Meetings

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Vice President JD Vance and his family attended the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday in St. Peter’s Basilica between meetings with Italian and Holy See officials.

The second family arrived for the solemn two-hour Catholic service in the afternoon of the first day of their April 18-24 travels to Italy, Vatican City and India. The vice president was “tending to and instructing his children — picking them up and holding them at times throughout the extended standing portion of the Passion story being sung in Latin,” according to a White House press pool report.

Since Pope Francis, 88, is convalescing from double pneumonia after a 38-day hospitalization, the role of celebrant of the liturgy commemorating the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus Christ was delegated to Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, the prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches. Following Vatican custom, the preacher of the papal household, Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini, delivered the homily, reflecting how Christ is “the anchor of our hope.”

Vance arrived in Rome earlier that morning for a scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Meloni became the first European leader Thursday to meet with President Donald Trump in the White House following his April 2 Liberation Day tariff announcement. “I’ve been missing you,” Meloni reportedly joked to Vance, with the pair having met in the Oval Office roughly 17 hours earlier.

The vice president’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, described Vance to the Daily Caller as “grateful for the opportunity to visit some of Rome’s amazing cultural and religious sites with his family during Holy Week.”

While Vance is expected to meet on Holy Saturday with the Holy See’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, it remains unclear if it will be possible to meet with a weakened Pope Francis. Vance is also expected to attend Easter Sunday Mass at the Vatican on his final day in Rome.

The pope, having occasionally clashed with Trump since his first presidential campaign and after meeting him May 24, 2017, criticized the administration’s mass deportation plans in a Feb. 10 letter to the bishops of the United States.

“The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality,” the supreme pontiff wrote.

“All the Christian faithful and people of good will are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa,” he continued.

The pope also responded in the letter to an observation Vance made in a Jan. 30 interview that the ancient Christian precept of love of neighbor begins close to home, linking that to the administration’s positions on border security and deportations of illegal migrants. His Holiness, however, said, “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

Vance acknowledged the pope’s criticism in a speech at the Feb. 28 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast before defending the administration’s position.

“I try to be humble as best I can when I talk about the faith in — publicly, because, of course, I’m not always going to get it right, and I don’t want my inadequacies in describing our faith to fall back on the faith itself,” he admitted, citing his conversion from a Pentecostal upbringing and his Aug. 11, 2019 baptism into the Roman Catholic Church. “I don’t try to comment on every single Catholic issue. … But as Michael Corleone said in ‘The Godfather,’ sometimes, ‘they pull me back in.’ Sometimes I can’t help but spout off — I am a politician, after all, ladies and gentlemen.”

The administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, identifying as a “lifelong Catholic,” had “harsh words” when responding to the pope’s criticism Feb. 11. “He ought to fix the Catholic Church and concentrate on his work. Leave border enforcement to us. He wants to attack us for securing our border? He’s got a wall around the Vatican, does he not?”

While the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sued the administration over funding cuts for nongovernmental organizations — including the USCCB — serving the needs of migrants, they also praised its actions to confront runaway gender ideology and government threats to religious freedom.

Vance previously celebrated his Catholic faith by revealing a prayer he recited before the Oct. 1 vice-presidential debate with the Democratic VP nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Following the Trump–Vance 2024 electoral victory, the then-junior Ohio senator stated he was even more proud that his seven-year-old son, Ewan, was baptized into the Christian faith.

He also received ashes on the forehead from a priest outside Air Force Two following an Ash Wednesday visit to the Texas border town of Eagle Pass on March 5.

Vance later gave a Saint Patrick’s Day tour of the White House to the priest who baptized him, Dominican Father Henry Stephan.

Note: This report has been updated with additional details.

AUTHOR

Thomas Wong

Associate weekend editor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

JD Vance Follows Through On GOP Convention Promise To Celebrate His Mom’s 10-Year Sobriety Anniversary At White House

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Vice President J.D. Vance held a ceremony at the White House on Friday to celebrate his mother’s ten years of sobriety, the White House announced on Monday.

Vance’s mother, Beverley Aikins, celebrated her milestone in the Roosevelt Room alongside about two dozen family members. The vice president first proposed holding this celebration during his speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention, where he accepted the vice presidential nomination.

“I’m proud to say that tonight my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober. I love you, Mom. And, you know, Mom, I was thinking. It’ll be 10 years officially in January of 2025, and if President Trump’s okay with it, let’s have the celebration in the White House,” Vance said during the speech in July.

During the ceremony, Aikins received a ten-year medallion to commemorate her sobriety. Vance said he is “grateful” that the celebration could be held in honor of his mother in a Monday statement on X. “This year marks my mom’s 10th year of sobriety, and I’m grateful that we were able to celebrate in the White House with our family. Mom, I am so proud of you,” the vice president said.

Aikins currently works as a nurse at a recovery center near Cincinnati, Ohio, where she “devotes her life to her family and to helping Americans who are struggling with addiction,” according to a Monday press release from Vance’s office. The vice president’s mother advised those battling addiction “to reach out, to try to get help, and that recovery is hard, but it’s so worth it.”

His mother’s struggles with addiction were chronicled in Vance’s 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” Her addiction began when she took painkillers to ease headaches, which later led to her usage of the opioid Percocet and heroin. Vance was placed into the car of his maternal grandparents, James and Bonnie Vance, after his mother’s arrest when he was a child. Actress Amy Adams portrayed Aikins in the film adaptation of the memoir on Netflix.

Photographs from the ceremony show Vance and his mother smiling at the White House briefing room podium, hugging in the Roosevelt Room and standing outside of the White House with members of their extended family. His wife, second lady Usha Vance, and their three children were present.

AUTHOR

Nicole Silverio

Media reporter.

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

JD Vance Isn’t Joking

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JD VANCE ISN’T JOKING

A less appreciated takeaway from the leaked dudes + Tulsi chat fiasco is something Americans don’t commonly see: Politicians and political leaders speaking in private the way they speak in public.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called Europe’s “free-loading … PATHETIC.” That was in response to when Vice President JD Vance questioned to what degree Trump had been talked into the impending strikes on the Houthi rebels. He said such an action – “bailing out” Europe – broke with Washington’s recent posture that Brussels ought to start pulling its own weight.

Of course, Europe saw all this and shrieked like teenaged girls. Nevermind that we bailed them out anyway, striking the Houthis, keeping European-dominated shipping lanes defended. They’re still worried. They should be.

“The anger that European diplomats have towards JD Vance is that he actually means what he says that Europe is a reckless set of freeloaders,” wrote Matt Stoller, a center-left economic analyst and one-time MSNBC producer.

“European diplomats are horrified someone is publicly honest about their fecklessness … instead of being a nice lying club member.”

The lead of a Wall Street Journal article pretty much sums it up.

“European leaders had hoped that Vice President JD Vance’s antagonism was a political show to build domestic support.”

Well, I hate to burst your bubble, Brussels: JD Vance isn’t joking.

His public persona is not merely fan service until he gets on the fairway with European elites. His political ideology is not a pair of pressed pants he hangs in a closet beside his desk, to be taken out and donned 15 minutes prior to an event.

He means what he says.

Europe better plan to start ponying up for its own defense. Ever traveled there, Dear Reader? The whole continent conducts itself like it’s living a whimsical college girl’s “gap year,” except it’s permanent, and we’re paying for it. Like my mother said about me getting a job: Europe, buddy, this is for your own good.

And, for whatever it’s worth, I don’t think Vance’s vision is a complete and utter severance. Just a dialing down.

How else can we afford to counter Chinese ambitions? Or win the Star Wars competition in space? How can we afford to buy Greenland if we’re still writing checks for Europe’s car payment?

And we’re not joking about Greenland either.

Vance is on his way there right now.

AUTHOR

Geoffrey Ingersoll

Editor at Large. Geoffrey Ingersoll graduated from Penn State in 2004 and quickly achieved becoming a Teach For America reject. He then enlisted in the Marines as a writer. He enrolled in NYU’s graduate journalism program after his honorable discharge in 2009, discovering in the process that Greenwich Village is scarier than Baghdad. Geoffrey has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, the Korean DMZ, and New Jersey.

RELATED VIDEO: New U.S. Marine Corps Ad Featuring Vice President a former Marine JD Vance

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

WHAT I’M READING

That story you heard about a government lawyer getting fired over Mel Gibson’s guns?

Turns out it’s a total yarn.

DOJ Attorney Liz Oyer Said Trump Fired Her Over Mel Gibson’s Guns — Turns Out She Was Mega-Progressive Activist

Even the unions think Trump is on to something.

‘We Are Ecstatic’: Union Boss Who Backed Harris Says He’s Thrilled With One Major Trump Policy

This lawfare is too comical to pass muster, c’mon.

Democrat New York Senator Proposes Bill Banning In-Person Tesla Sales

JD Vance Throws Lead Down Range With U.S. Marines During Quantico Visit

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Vice President J.D. Vance shot machine guns and artillery at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, after giving a speech to Marines Wednesday.

WATCH: JD Vance at Marine Corps Base Quantico on March 26, 2025

Vance, who previously served in the Marines, fired five weapons during his visit to the shooting range, including a howitzer and a M240B medium machine gun. He shot the weapons after giving an encouraging speech to the current Marines about a “renewed sense of patriotism” and “commitment to excellence.”

Along with the M240B and howitzer, the vice president shot a M27 5.56 infantry rifle, a M107 .50 sniper, and an FPV drone that is currently in experiment, according to a pool report.

Footage showed Vance firing the 105 mm howitzer at the range.

During his speech, Vance touted that every branch of the U.S. military has been meeting its recruiting goals since President Donald Trump reentered office, further promising to invest in the Marine Corps like the nation “has never seen before.”

“We’re going to invest in the Marine Corps and the entire United States military like we never have before,” Vance told the crowd of Marines. “Over $1 trillion we’re going to invest and building up the entire manufacturing base of this country so that you guys, when you do go to war, when you have to go to war, have the best weapons anywhere in the world. We know from the long history of the United States of America that while the leading edge of American power is you all, it really matters what you guys have in your hands and what you guys have on your backs when you go to war.”

“So I promised you from the President of the United States, we are going to send you, if we have to send you to war, with the best equipment, the best ammunition, the best weapons. And we are going to empower you guys to win when you have to. That’s the purpose of the United States Marine Corps,” the vice president continued.

Young Marines awaiting Vance’s arrival appeared highly enthusiastic and excited for the vice president to meet them, The Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan reported.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include details from the event’s press pool report. 

AUTHOR

Nicole Silverio

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘Heir Apparent’: Here’s How JD Vance’s New RNC Role Put Him In Pole Position For 2028

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.