At White House briefing, US V-P Vance says Iran war won’t be ‘forever’

WASHINGTON – US Vice-President J.D. Vance reassured Americans on May 19 that President Donald Trump’s war with Iran will not become a “forever war”, using a White House briefing to defend his boss’ policies as speculation about his potential successor builds.

Standing in for press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave, Mr Vance fielded questions from journalists for nearly an hour in a mostly measured manner, a contrast to Mr Trump’s more confrontational style.

He declined to rule out using taxpayer money to compensate people convicted of assaulting police officers during the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, dismissed European concerns over Washington scrapping troop deployment to Poland as overblown and called a reporter’s suggestion that Mr Trump’s recent stock purchases raised corruption concerns “absurd”.

The White House briefing room has emerged in May as an informal audition stage in the race to succeed Mr Trump in 2028.

Mr Vance’s appearance at the podium came about two weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, his possible future rival, drew wide attention for his debut briefing.

“Marco’s right, this really is chaos,” Mr Vance quipped as reporters who packed the room shouted for his attention.

When a reporter referred to Mr Vance as “a potential future candidate”, he rushed to correct her.

“I’m not a potential future candidate,” he said. “I’m a vice-president, and I really like my job, and I’m going to try to do as good of a job as I can.”

Iran war presents political test

Mr Vance, 41, a former Marine who has long argued against US entanglements in foreign wars, on May 19 said any escalation with Tehran in the absence of a diplomatic solution would serve long-term US security interests.

“This is not a forever war,” he said. “We’re going to take care of business and come home.”

The Iran conflict is likely to loom over the political futures of both Mr Rubio and Mr Vance.

Since it began on Feb 28, it has shut down a large chunk of the global oil trade, sending US petrol prices about 50 per cent higher and raising alarm among Republicans defending congressional majorities in the November midterm elections.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on May 19, Mr Trump’s presidential approval rating fell to nearly its lowest level since he returned to the White House, with many Republicans souring on his handling of Americans’ cost-of-living concerns.

The poll, conducted between May 15 and 18, showed 34 per cent of Americans have a favourable view of Mr Vance and 33 per cent said the same of Mr Rubio. In January 2025, 42 per cent of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll said they had a favourable view of Mr Vance.

Even as both men downplay their 2028 ambitions, Mr Trump has continued to fuel the succession talk. At a Rose Garden dinner last week, the President polled guests on his possible successors.

“Who likes J.D. Vance?” he asked. “Who likes Marco Rubio?”

Both questions drew strong applause. Mr Trump said the men running together would make “a perfect ticket”, but added that he was not offering either of them his endorsement.

Mr Rubio’s recent turn at the White House podium drew praise from Mr Trump. Republicans and even some Democrats noted his smooth performance, which included quips with reporters and a 1990s hip-hop reference to describe Iran’s negotiating position.

A State Department video capturing his remarks that he hoped America would be a place where “anyone from anywhere can achieve anything” went viral and fuelled further speculation about a 2028 bid.

Mr Vance, who has spent the last few weeks campaigning across states, including Iowa, Maine and Missouri, and raising money for Republican candidates, also tried out some humour on May 19 in a reference to his wife Usha, who is pregnant with their fourth child.

“I told Karoline I would stand in for her today for the White House press briefing on the condition that when Usha has our baby in July, she would be vice-president for a couple (of) weeks,” Mr Vance said. REUTERS