JD Vance says Trump clashed with former officials for refusing to engage in ‘ridiculous war’

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio argued that his running mate, former President Trump, has clashed with former Pentagon officials for refusing to enter “ridiculous wars,” arguing that this was the reason why former officials like ex-White House chief of staff John Kelly have spoken out against him.

In a sit-down interview that aired on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning, Vance sparred with host Jake Tapper over recent allegations brought by Kelly, who said Trump is the “definition of a fascist.” 

Vance charged that Kelly and other critics like former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney disagree with Trump on policy and are “conservative in the sense that they want America to get involved in a ton of ridiculous military conflicts – they wanted America to police the world, and Donald Trump wasn’t.” 

Tapper pushed back on this, noting that Kelly’s son died in the war in Afghanistan. Vance, a Marine veteran, defended his position, saying, “I know John Kelly’s worldview,” and stating that while he honors Kelly’s son and his family’s sacrifice, “that doesn’t mean he wasn’t wrong about policy.” 

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Sen. J.D. Vance, during a campaign rally at the Elite Jet at Contact Aviation facility on Oct. 24, 2024, in Waterford, Michigan. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“Donald Trump wouldn’t listen to the leadership of the military when they wanted him to start ridiculous conflicts,” Vance said. “A lot of former members of the Pentagon bureaucracy, a lot of neoconservatives, they have a fundamental difference with Donald Trump on the question of peace and war.” 

“I believe Donald Trump is the candidate of peace. I think the record supports that. The reason these guys go after him so vociferously, I don’t think it’s about his personality, Jake,” Vance said. “I think that it’s about they don’t like that Donald Trump said no when a lot of them want to start a ridiculous war.” 

Tapper challenged Vance on what he was basing this assertion on. Vance said that it was “based on people that I’ve talked to in the Trump administration.” 

Tapper also cited other former Trump administration officials, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Defense secretaries James Mattis and Mark Esper, and former White House national security adviser John Bolton, who criticized their ex-boss. 

“You know one reason why Kamala Harris doesn’t have as many people criticizing her?” Vance said. “Because she doesn’t fire people who fail. That’s why we haven’t had a real audit of the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal is because Kamala Harris protects failures in government. Donald Trump fires them, and I’d much rather have a president who fires people who screw up.”  

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Vance lambasted Tapper for not asking about the cost of groceries, housing and other issues impacting Americans’ livelihoods. 

“They didn’t think he was unfit for office until they had a falling out with him because he fired them, and we’re not talking about the public policy,” Vance added. “Can we talk about how Americans can’t afford groceries? Can we talk about how Americans can’t afford the cost of housing? Can we talk about the fact that a lot of people out there in Erie, Pennsylvania, they’re the ones that suffer and die when people like Mark Esper and Mark Milley don’t obey the commander in chief’s orders?” 

Former President Trump during a roundtable with faith leaders at Christ Chapel on Oct. 23, 2024, in Zebulon, Georgia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Vance charged that Tapper would “much rather talk about what Donald Trump allegedly said than what he did in office.” He said his running mate “wants to use American troops sparingly, he wants peace through strength” and denied that Trump ever said he would use the U.S. military against the American people. 

In regards to Trump’s “enemy from within” comments, Vance said Tapper was conflating Trump’s stance on “far-left lunatics” and people who would riot in the wake of an election or who burned down American cities in the summer of 2020, adding that federal law enforcement should respond in those cases. 

Vance also appeared on CBS and NBC Sunday shows. 

On foreign policy, Vance told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Trump would stay in NATO, but other countries should pay their share, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “clearly an adversary” but the United States needs to be “smart about diplomacy too,” especially to end the war in Ukraine. 

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“Of course we’re going to honor our NATO commitment, but I think it’s important, Kristen, to recognize that NATO is not just a welfare client, it should be a real alliance,” Vance told NBC’s Kristen Welker. “Donald Trump wants NATO to be strong. He wants us to remain in NATO. But he also wants NATO countries to actually carry their share of the defense burden.”