President Donald Trump turned his back on Vice President JD Vance in anger last summer after he suggested softening parts of a speech about U.S. strikes on Iran, according to a book from New York Times reporters.
In "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," obtained by Politico, New York Times correspondents Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan reported that Vance, an Iraq War veteran and longtime skeptic of foreign interventions, appeared "anxious" to aides the night Operation Midnight Hammer commenced.
Vance suggested edits to soften Trump's remarks, but the president snapped, "I know what I'm doing," the authors wrote. They added that Trump then turned away from Vance without responding further, appearing irritated by what they describe as Vance's "second-guessing."
A senior White House official disputed the account, speaking on condition of anonymity. "You'd think they would have checked their sources before putting false claims like these on paper," the official said, denying that Trump ever turned his back on Vance and calling the book's version of events a mischaracterization.
The episode is one of several tensions between Trump and Vance detailed in the book. Separately, the authors report that Trump was angry with Vance for not immediately echoing his claim that Iran's nuclear program had been "totally obliterated."
“Trump told one associate, ‘Everyone needs to say ... “obliterated," the authors wrote. "'That’s the word. Everyone just needs to copy what I say. Obliterated. Obliterated.’”
Vance had instead told ABC News he wasn't sure of the distinction between "severely damaged" and "obliterated," though he later adopted Trump's preferred language in a Fox News appearance the next day.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended Vance in a statement, calling him "an incredibly trusted and talented member" of Trump's national security team and pointing to his role leading negotiations on the memorandum of understanding that ended the Iran conflict.
The book also reportedly described Trump as genuinely impressed by Vance, frequently telling associates it was notable that Vance got into Yale without wealthy family backing.
