President Donald Trump this month sent Vice President JD Vance to Hungary to boost its embattled prime minister and then to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran in hopes of ending the war the U.S. and Israel started.
Both trips ended with highly visible setbacks and some awkward moments, leading to questions about whether Vance’s political star is still rising or if he’s being saddled with some of the administration’s heaviest burdens.
Vance became the face of the U.S. delegation that last weekend failed to clinch a peace deal with Iran after a marathon 21-hour negotiating session in Islamabad. Tehran would not affirmatively commit to not seeking a nuclear weapon, Vance said.
The talks generated an unusual split-screen: As Vance delivered the news from the Pakistani capital that “we have not reached an agreement” with Iran, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were photographed together at a UFC fight in Miami.
“I think Trump is likely to play the two of them, and other candidates including [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis, as kind of a real-life ‘Apprentice’ show,” Marc Short, former chief of staff to Trump’s first-term VP Mike Pence, said in a phone interview.
