VDH: Trump Is Sending Vance A Message

VDH starts by giving Vance his due. In 2024, Vance "eviscerated the maintream media," destroyed everyone he debated, and made Walz look like "a buffoon he is" — all with surgical calm. His attitude toward opponents was almost generous: "This is all you have. I don't want to hurt you." Formidable. But that was the campaign. Then came governing.

Iran. Venezuela. Cuba. None of it was MAGA orthodoxy. The strikes took out Iran's nuclear facilities and its supreme leader. The Venezuela operation grabbed Maduro right out from under his Cuban bodyguards with zero American d∗aths. Bold, decisive — and exactly the kind of engagement that puts Vance in an impossible position.

As VDH explains it, Vance knows Trump values "loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty, loyalty"above everything. But his power base — Tucker, Don Jr., Tucker's son on his own staff, the people who got him the VP nomination — are the ones most opposed to the foreign engagements. Trump acknowledged the rift publicly, telling reporters he and Vance are philosophically different on Iran (ABC News). To his credit, Vance handled it well — "It's fine to disagree, but once the president makes a decision, it's up to everybody to make it as successful as possible." But the tension is real.

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Victor Davis Hanson is reading Trump's body language — and what he sees is a president recalibrating his inner circle in real time.

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— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman)April 6, 2026