The Trump Doctrine Unveiled
LIMA, Ohio — Vice President JD Vance has found his message on the Iran strikes: This was Donald Trump using a big stick after speaking softly.
After days of struggling to get on the same page as the president about the finer points of the administration’s policy on Iran, he described the bombing as “wildly successful” to a sold-out Ohio Republican Party dinner on Tuesday, even as initial U.S. intelligence reports suggest that damage to the nuclear program was far more limited than Trump has said.
A New Foreign Policy Doctrine
The vice president has emerged as one of the Trump administration’s most prominent messengers on the conflict, and in his remarks, Vance he cast the Iran strikes as part of what he had hours earlier called a “new foreign policy doctrine” on X.
“What I call the Trump Doctrine is quite simple: Number one, you articulate a clear American interest and that’s, in this case, that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said at the dinner. “Number two, you try to aggressively diplomatically solve that problem. And number three, when you can’t solve it diplomatically, you use overwhelming military power to solve it and then you get the hell out of there before it ever becomes a protracted conflict.”
Reactions and Praise
Trump’s action in Iran sparked initial criticism from the isolationist wing of the party, of which Vance was once a part. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon has questioned the “regime change narrative” that many said Israel’s strikes were aimed at achieving and MAGA firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green blasted “neocon warmongers” on social media, even as both said they still supported Trump.
But on Tuesday evening, Operation Midnight Hammer was universally praised by candidates and elected officials in deep-red Allen County, situated in the northwest part of the state, which Trump and Vance won by some 40 percent last November. Vance paused his speech several times as Republican attendees loudly cheered and clapped for Trump’s military action.
Outside the packed dinner, about three dozen protestors hoisted signs targeting Trump and Vance, including one that read “Ohio does not claim you.” Channeling a chant from Vance’s alma mater The Ohio State University, they yelled “O-H, I-O, JD Vance has got to go.”
Vance said his chief of staff told him Monday he might have to cancel an Ohio Republican Party dinner appearance given events in the Middle East.
“Why the hell would we cancel a trip to Lima, Ohio?” Vance said.
