Trump Rebuked Vance Over Iran Strike Messaging, Pushing 'Obliterated' Line After 1 ABC Interview
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 18
Trump Rebuked Vance Over Iran Strike Messaging, Pushing 'Obliterated' Line After 1 ABC Interview
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 18
Summary
A forthcoming book says Trump angrily pressed JD Vance to mirror his Iran messaging after the vice president said on ABC that Tehran’s nuclear sites were “substantially” set back rather than clearly “obliterated.”
Hours later, Trump also rejected Vance’s caution on regime change, and the book says he snapped “I know what I’m doing” when Vance urged softer strike rhetoric after Operation Midnight Hammer.
The account lands as leaked early intelligence reportedly undercut Trump’s public claims about the scale of damage, helping explain why Vance shifted the next day to repeatedly using “obliterated” on Fox News.
White House officials denied the book’s version of events, calling the claims false and stressing that Vance remains a trusted adviser who led talks on a memorandum of understanding Trump signed in France.
The episode surfaces just before Vance is expected in Switzerland for follow-on Iran talks, while he publicly defends the peace deal despite criticism and the war’s broad unpopularity at home.