opinion Is Vance going rogue?

Among all the things Donald Trump has going for him, one of them doesn’t seem to be having luck with picking loyal vice-presidents.

Rather than remain true blue to their boss, both abandoned his positions, in favor of their own. In the case of former Vice President Mike Pence, it was the January 6 event, which became the catalyst for their eventual parting of ways, after Trump requested that Pence pause the election results, due to suspicions of illegal tampering.

In fact, it was during his own 2024 bid, to run for the presidency, that Pence openly said, “Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president,” referring to Trump.

Since then, the two have not mended fences.

Now, there’s the independent statement of Vice President JD Vance, following the blistering defeat of Republicans, in the midterm elections, causing the second-in-command to cite four particular areas that he felt contributed to the defeat:

“The decision not to end the war, not focusing on the cost of living and inflation, not putting America first, and the need to change the relationship with Israel.”

A few questions come to mind. Why did Vance believe that he could speak independently and give his own take for why Republicans failed to clinch a win? And, how were those four reasons received by his boss, President Trump?

Given that Trump, as the commander-in-chief, gets to call the shots, when it comes to the decision to wage war or pause it, how does Vance justify his comments, which clearly second-guess Trump’s chosen strategies?

Why would Vance assume that taking on Iran is not in the best interest of America or, for that matter, anything else that the president chose to pursue over the course of his first two years in office?

Nonetheless, Vance’s statement makes a very daring assumption that Trump’s focuses were not in keeping with the America First agenda, which he promised to implement.

Finally, Vance’s suggestion that America needs to change its relationship with Israel, almost has the tone of overstepping his bounds, as he takes on a presumed authority which he likely was not given.

All of these points seem to indicate a break with his boss, and with good reason, as far as Vance is concerned. Given the unexpected and humiliating blow, which was far from insignificant, the potential candidate for the 2028 presidency cannot afford to be aligned with a losing image, accounting for the distance that he seems to be placing between the big man and himself.

It’s a move that has been noticed by a number of media outlets, suggesting that Vance may be going rogue. The Hindu, an Indian English-language daily newspaper, quoted former National Security Advisor, John Bolton who said, “There’s no doubt that part of the underlying reason for Mr. Vance’s statement was that this is the beginning of his 2028 nomination campaign, and he’s trying to do something very risky.”

Former White House speechwriter, Mark Thiessen, in his recent opinion piece for the Washington Post, referred to Vance’s comments as “a stunning act of disloyalty.”

Thiessen went on to say, “Though Vance tried to suggest he was merely echoing the president’s own view, he was clearly criticizing Trump’s decision to go to war... Indeed, his statement contained not a single word of support for Trump’s decision to act to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon.”

Thiessen, who called Trump’s act, “the most courageous decision any president ever made in his lifetime,” seems completely shocked by the lack of public support Vance failed to display, effectively breaking with Trump in what constitutes a very loud and defiant measure.

Similar to former White House spokesperson, Ari Fleischer, Thiessen believes that if anything cost a decisive midterm win for Republicans, it was not finishing the Iran war, the greatest coup that Trump could have pulled off, earning him the respect and acknowledgement due to his determination to take down a regime that has chanted, “Death to America” for decades.

After all, Trump’s trademark is being known for winning!

But when winning is also the goal of a very ambitious guy, who got his start in life by being born into a poor Appalachian family, having to scratch and fight for everything he ever accomplished is, undoubtedly, a big part of his DNA.

And although Trump chose him from a bevy of distinguished and more seasoned candidates, including the formidable Marco Rubio, Vance must already be making his political calculations, figuring that it’s best to put some distance between the two of them, if he is to forge his own way, from this point on.

But given the impression that most of us have about Trump, Vance may be signing an early death warrant by breaking so soon with the man who gave him the greatest opportunity anyone in the free world can get!

Because Trump will most likely want to remain the “main event” in the last term of his presidency, unwilling to be upstaged by an upstart who has designs on the top office. Vance’s presumptuousness might, indeed, have the opposite effect, relegating him to an earned reputation of disloyalty, similar to Pence.

Now, in a last-ditch effort to broker a peace deal between the Iranian regime and the U.S., Vance is giving it his all, hoping to impress everyone by wrapping up the war that Trump was unable to end.

In that regard, one has to wonder, at what price will Vance seek to come to an agreement with a brutal pack of murderous liars and manipulators, whose only goal is to, once again, dupe the U.S. into a false hope of peace, while buying more time to realize their nuclear goals.

Who then will be guilty of not having sought an America First agenda, which would ensure safety and security for all citizens?

Unfortunately, by allowing Vance to enter another round of pseudo talks, meant to delay the inevitable, Trump is playing right into the hands of a man who is bent on garnering the accolades for himself.

Prodded and encouraged by his good friend, Tucker Carlson, who has his own vendetta against Trump, the president might be best served by putting an end to the war he started, in the style of Frank Sinatra so that he, too can say, “I did it my way!”