Friday 13 Nov 2026
President Donald Trump directs Vice President JD Vance to shift focus away from Iran war and instead to fight corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled cities and states. (Photo/AFP)
President Donald Trump has directed Vice President JD Vance to shift his focus away from the US war on Iran and instead devote himself to fighting what the president says is corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled cities and states.
Vance, who served as the lead negotiator for a short-lived truce in the eight-month old war, has been blunt in blaming the war — and the economic reverberations it has caused — for Republicans' sweeping losses in last week's midterm elections in the United States.
But Trump told the vice president in a social media post on Thursday to shift his energies away from the Iran war to what he argues is a more pressing — and perhaps more politically salient — issue after Republicans were trounced at the polls.
"We don’t need a deal with Iran," Trump said in the post. "Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!"
Trump earlier this week said that he believed the war "militarily is effectively over," and appeared to double down on that message by pointedly directing Vance "to focus his complete and total attention" on his anti-fraud campaign.
Democrats have promised intense oversight of Trump's business dealings and other targets when they take control of Congress in January.
Trump's post about Vance and the Iran war was, in part, responding to a flurry of reports about Democrats' plans.
But it also came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday evening that Vance was weighing engaging in a new round of direct talks with a senior Iranian official.
The vice president's office did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House press office, in an email, responded to a query by highlighting that Trump made clear in his post that he sees no need to negotiate with Iran.
Vance blames Iran war for midterm losses
Vance, who had long advocated for restraint in US military interventions overseas, was lukewarm in his defence of the conflict after Trump launched it and became the face of an unsuccessful attempt to end the fighting when he headed up negotiations over the summer.
Following the November 3 losses, Vance wrote a lengthy post on X in which he didn't mince words about the political impact of the conflict.
"If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so," Vance said. "Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest."
The vice president is considering whether to launch a 2028 run for the White House. Voter dissatisfaction with handling of the war could weigh down those ambitions.
The president has yet to endorse a successor for the 2028 race. In a CBS "60 Minutes" interview that aired on Sunday, the president said he "may or may not get involved" in offering an endorsement.
Trump earlier this week said that he believed that mediation efforts led by Qatar are making progress and that it was unlikely he would need to make good on earlier threats to restart the full-scale bombardment of Iran after he was past the midterm elections.
Ghalibaf says US wants Russia to intervene
Oil shipments coming out of the Strait of Hormuz have recovered to near prewar levels after Iran effectively choked the critical waterway for months, stemming the flow of crude and energy resources from its Persian Gulf neighbors.
But international tankers now are relying on US Navy escorts to get the oil out of the strait. The US military has recently carried out limited strikes on Iran, including against its air defences.
And while crude and liquefied natural gas exports from the Gulf are climbing, there's also been an uptick in attacks on ships trying to traverse the waterway.
Meanwhile, Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in an interview that the United States has asked for Russian President Vladimir Putin to facilitate direct negotiations between the US and Iran.
"It was the Americans who, during a visit to Moscow, spoke with Mr. Putin and asked him to speak with Iran so that, in any case, Iran would agree to speak directly with them," Ghalibaf told Al Jazeera in the interview.
"Look, Russia and Mr. Putin, the Russian president, are friends of ours. We have strategic relations with Russia. We are very close, and we hold Mr. Putin in particularly high regard."
The White House did not directly respond to a query about whether the US has asked Putin to facilitate talks with Iran.
Ghalibaf said the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, traveled to Russia and briefed Putin on details of the negotiations.
"He informed him that we had conveyed our positions, which represent the legitimate rights and rightful demands of our people, to the Americans," he said, adding that it is up to the US side to respond.
"It is up to them to decide. If they are truly telling the truth and are sincere about negotiations, then they should respond and begin the process," Ghalibaf said. "But if they want to pursue the path of war, then naturally, we are fully prepared for that as well."
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Source: TRT
