Vice President JD Vance rather bravely accepted an invitation to appear before an international audience that the Munich Security Conference convened in Washington this week. He had every reason to expect that his audience would be overwhelmingly hostile — not only toward the Trump administration’s policies, but toward him personally.
Many in attendance had also attended the February conference in Munich. On that occasion, Vance seemed to have only harsh words for Europe.
“When I look at Europe today,” Vance said, “it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners.” He added, in an apparently deliberate slip of the tongue, “when I look to Brussels … EU commiss — commissars warn citizens that they intend to shut down social media during times of civil unrest the moment they spot what they’ve judged to be quote ‘hateful content.’”
Vance went on to criticize several countries, including Germany, for its police raids against citizens “suspected of posting antifeminist comments online;” Sweden for a judge who convicted “a Christian activist for participating in Quran burnings” and “chillingly” argued that there were limits to the country’s support for free expression; and Scotland, whose government warned its citizens “that even private prayer within their homes may amount to breaking the law.”
“Free speech,” the vice president stated, “is in retreat.” He added, “if you’re running in fear of your own voters there is nothing America can do for you.”
Small wonder he alienated his heavily European audience. Nevertheless, in anticipation of his second round with the Munich Security Conference, Vance chose not to give a set-piece address, with which his stable of speechwriters could have provided him. Instead, he accepted the risk of an interview, a so-called “conversation,” with Wolfgang Ischinger, formerly the chairman of the Munich Conference and Germany’s ambassador to the U.S., who had been unhappy with the vice president’s comments in Munich.
Vance’s clear purpose was to soften the harshness of his Munich speech. But at the same time, he had to hew to President Trump’s line, which has hardly been Europe-friendly, especially with regard to defense spending and trade.
Vance somehow managed to meet both objectives.
In contrast to his haranguing of the Europeans in Munich, he stressed that America not only shared Europe’s values, but had drawn those values from Europe, saying that “we are on one civilizational team” that could not be pried apart. He explained that “all of us, including especially the United States ... have to be careful that we don’t ... actually undermine the very democratic legitimacy upon which all of our civilization rests ... It’s not Europe bad, America good.”
On Ukraine, Vance walked a fine line between criticizing Russia’s “full-scale invasion” and trying “to understand where the other side [Russia] is coming from.” He asserted that Trump’s mediation efforts reflected his “strategic realism,” bemoaning the reality that both sides “hate each other so much.” But he also said that Russia was “asking for too much” in terms of Ukrainian concessions.
Nevertheless, not everyone in the audience was comfortable with what still appeared to be Vance’s reluctance to take sides as opposed to offering full-throated support for Ukraine.
Ischinger did not press Vance on the Trump administration’s ongoing support for Israel’s Gaza operation, but he did ask about the negotiations that Washington has begun with Tehran. “So far, so good” was Vance’s assessment of the talks.
Vance outlined three options for dealing with Iran. The first and preferred option was to reach an agreement that would eliminate the weapons program. The second, which Vance did not outline explicitly, was a military response. The third was Iran developing a nuclear weapon, something he immediately asserted was not going to happen.
Vance did appear willing to tolerate Iran having “nuclear power” but he added that “you can’t have the kind of enrichment program that allows you to get to a nuclear weapon.” He also stressed that if Iran obtained a nuclear weapon, other countries in the region would follow suit, which would undermine the nonproliferation regime that he vigorously supported.
When Ischinger offered to end the session, Vance joked that while his staff was nervous about his schedule, he was prepared to take several more questions. And when Ischinger finally ended the interview, Vance still had more to add, stressing yet again the values that America and Europe jointly shared.
It was a strong performance. Vance came across as intelligent, articulate and polished. He did not try to avoid answering Ischinger’s often pointed questions. Indeed, one attendee asserted that former Vice President Kamala Harris would never have agreed to such a substantive give-and-take with an interviewer as experienced as Ischinger.
Moreover, it was clear to many participants that if Vance becomes the 2028 Republican presidential nominee, he could be an especially formidable candidate.
Dov S. Zakheim is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and vice chairman of the board for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He was undersecretary of Defense (comptroller) and chief financial officer for the Department of Defense from 2001 to 2004 and a deputy undersecretary of Defense from 1985 to 1987.
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