The diplomatic mission Vice President JD Vance led to negotiate an end to the unauthorized war with Iran faced an unexpected obstacle: his own boss. While the 41-year-old vice president sat down with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, President Trump posted a combative Truth Social message on April 11 that seemed designed to torpedo the talks before they could gain momentum.
Trump’s online outburst, which came just as negotiations were getting underway, declared that Iran was “LOSING, and LOSING BIG!” The 79-year-old president bragged that the country’s “Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone” and that “their longtime ‘Leaders’ are no longer with us, praise be to Allah!” He made no reference to Vance’s diplomatic efforts, which were being carried out alongside Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Vance has emerged as the administration figure Iranian officials say they trust most, preferring to deal with the vice president who has a long record of opposing Middle East military interventions. Trump launched the unauthorized war on Feb. 28, and Vance has been trying to position himself as a stabilizing force in ending the conflict.
Internal divisions have plagued the negotiating team from the start. The vice president has insisted Iran must be left with zero uranium enrichment capabilities. Kushner and Witkoff, by contrast, have discussed a far more lenient arrangement that would actually allow the U.S. to provide uranium to Iran for civilian purposes. Iranian officials have publicly stated they believe Kushner and Witkoff are running a deceptive operation meant to create the false impression of good-faith negotiations.
On HBO’s “Real Time” last Friday, comedian Bill Maher, 70, called attention to the absurdity of Vance’s predicament. “That’s who’s at the table over there in Islamabad: Pakistan, Vance, and the Iranians,” he said, reminding viewers that the vice president once described Trump as “reprehensible” and possibly “America’s Hitler.”
Those comments came during Vance’s self-described “never Trumper” phase, before he joined the 2024 ticket. The former Marine, who built his political brand around rejecting foreign wars, has since transformed into one of Trump’s most loyal allies.
Trump seemed indifferent to the diplomatic efforts while they were happening. On Saturday night, with talks still ongoing, the president attended UFC 327 in Miami with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and family members. Before heading to the event, he told reporters it “makes no difference” to him whether any agreement gets reached.
After 21 hours of negotiations, the talks fell apart on Sunday with no deal. As Vance delivered the “bad news” from Pakistan, the White House was busy promoting Trump’s upcoming 80th birthday celebration scheduled for June 14, which will showcase UFC fighters battling on the South Lawn before a crowd of 3,000 to 5,000 VIPs.
The president’s indifferent posture evaporated once negotiations failed. Trump declared a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, which became fully operational Monday morning. Iran denounced the action as “piracy,” and oil prices climbed above $100 per barrel. The critical shipping corridor has been effectively shut since the war started. The closure drove gas prices higher in March than in any other month dating back to 1967. France announced it would organize a multinational mission to maintain navigation through the strait, while Britain refused to participate in the blockade. U.S. intelligence has also picked up signs that China plans to send advanced air-defense systems to Iran, a development Trump said would create “big problems” for Beijing.
Trump had earlier issued a threat to eliminate Iranian civilization entirely if the Strait remained closed, warning on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if no deal was reached. He subsequently softened his position when the U.S. and Iran reached a temporary ceasefire.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom used the diplomatic failure to ridicule Vance. “JD Vance proves he’s a lightweight twice in 48 hours,” Newsom posted on X, citing both the Iran talks collapse and Vance’s campaign appearance for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who lost his election badly just days after the vice president’s Hungary visit.
Critics have blasted Trump’s chaotic management of the Iran crisis. He initiated the war without seeking congressional approval and has repeatedly worked against his own negotiators.
In Trump’s morning tirade on April 11, he also attacked the media for what he called “massive Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Even with negotiations in ruins and mounting public anger over fuel costs, Trump insisted he had no concerns about whether talks would restart. “I don’t care if they come back or not,” he said. “If they don’t come back, I’m fine.” But within days, the president claimed Iranian officials had reached out to him and “want to work a deal,” with Pakistan willing to host another round of discussions. The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Trump is considering launching limited military strikes again to force Tehran back into negotiations.