Vance insists Trump won’t ‘allow’ a long Iran war

Vice President JD Vance — a Marine veteran of the Iraq War who has long been skeptical of American military interventions abroad — insisted Monday that the war with Iran is different because President Donald Trump “has clearly defined what he wants to accomplish.”

“There’s just no way that Donald Trump is going to allow this country to get into a multiyear conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.” His remarks were his first in public since the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began Saturday.

“The president wants to make it clear to the Iranians and to the world that he is not going to rest until he accomplishes that all-important objective of ensuring that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” the vice president added.

Trump on Monday outlined the administration’s four key objectives for its operations: destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, “annihilating” its navy, preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring the “Iranian regime” cannot continue to “arm, fund and direct” its proxy groups in the Middle East.

The vice president was in the White House Situation Room with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright as Trump launched Operation Epic Fury from his Mar-a-Lago war room in Palm Beach, Florida.

It’s quite a shift from Vance’s previous stance. In 2023, while serving as a U.S. senator representing Ohio, Vance endorsed Trump in a Wall Street Journal op-ed headlined: “Trump’s best foreign policy? Not starting any wars.”

“He has my support in 2024 because I know he won’t recklessly send Americans to fight wars overseas,” Trump’s future vice president wrote. “In Mr. Trump’s four years in office, he started no wars despite enormous pressure from his own party and even members of his own administration.

“Not starting wars is perhaps a low bar, but that’s a reflection of the hawkishness of Mr. Trump’s predecessors and the foreign-policy establishment they slavishly followed,” he asserted.

Trump, in the first year of his second term, has ordered more airstrikes than his predecessor, President Joe Biden, did in his full four years.

Vance’s comments Monday come as the American death toll from the operation mounts. Six service members have been killed in action since the first wave of strikes began Saturday morning Eastern time, according to U.S. Central Command. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have conceded that additional casualties are likely.

The U.S. has also signaled it plans to escalate its military offensive against Iran, as it urges Americans in more than a dozen countries in the Middle East to “depart now” due to serious safety risks.

“The hardest hits are yet to come,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday, warning, “The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now.”

Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.

副总统 JD Vance 是一位参加过伊拉克战争的海军陆战队老兵，他长期以来对美国的海外军事干预持怀疑态度。周一，他坚称与伊朗的战争有所不同，因为唐纳德·特朗普总统“已经明确定义了他想要实现的目标”。

“唐纳德·特朗普绝不会允许美国陷入一场看不到尽头、没有明确目标的多年冲突，”万斯在接受福克斯新闻“杰西·沃特斯黄金时段”节目采访时表示。这是自美以周六开始对伊朗发动空袭以来，他首次公开表态。

副总统补充说：“总统想向伊朗人民和全世界明确表示，在实现确保伊朗无法拥有核武器这一至关重要的目标之前，他绝不会罢休。”

周一，特朗​​普概述了本届政府行动的四个主要目标：摧毁伊朗的导弹能力，“消灭”其海军，阻止德黑兰获得核武器，并确保“伊朗政权”不能继续“武装、资助和指挥”其在中东的代理组织。

当特朗普在佛罗里达州棕榈滩的海湖庄园作战室启动“史诗狂怒行动”时，副总统正与国家情报总监图尔西·加巴德、财政部长斯科特·贝森特和能源部长克里斯·赖特在白宫战情室。

这与万斯之前的立场截然不同。2023年，时任俄亥俄州联邦参议员的万斯在《华尔街日报》发表了一篇题为“特朗普最好的外交政策是什么？不发动任何战争”的评论文章，公开支持特朗普。

“我支持他在2024年参选，因为我知道他不会鲁莽地将美国人派往海外打仗，”特朗普未来的副总统写道。“在特朗普先生执政的四年里，尽管面临来自他自己党内甚至他自己政府成员的巨大压力，但他没有发动任何战争。”

“不发动战争或许是一个很低的标准，但这反映了特朗普先生的前任们的鹰派作风以及他们盲目追随的外交政策建制派，”他断言道。

特朗普在其第二个任期的第一年，下令进行的空袭次数就超过了他的前任总统乔·拜登在其四年任期内所下令的空袭次数。

万斯周一发表上述言论之际，美军在这次行动中的死亡人数仍在上升。据美国中央司令部称，自周六上午（美国东部时间）第一波空袭开始以来，已有六名军人在战斗中丧生。特朗普总统和国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯都承认，伤亡人数可能还会增加。

美国还发出信号，计划升级对伊朗的军事攻势，并敦促在中东十几个国家的美国公民“立即离开”，理由是存在严重的安全风险。

“最严厉的打击尚未到来，”国务卿马可·卢比奥周一在国会山告诉记者，并警告说，“下一阶段对伊朗的惩罚将比现在更加严厉。”

Tanya Noury 是《军事时报》和《防务新闻》的记者，她的报道主要集中在白宫和五角大楼。