{"id":708,"date":"2026-06-18T17:41:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T17:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708"},"modified":"2026-06-18T17:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T17:41:24","slug":"if-only-trump-knew-what-vance-is-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708","title":{"rendered":"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Yesterday, Donald Trump admitted that he was being crafty when he elevated J. D. Vance to sell the resolution of the war with Iran. \u201cIf it works out, I\u2019m going to take the credit,\u201d Trump said of the peace deal. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t work out, I\u2019m blaming J.D.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Iran Has Humiliated Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump was smirking when he said this, but it was not a joke. Judging by the messaging emanating from across the Republican Party, letting the president claim victory while making the vice president own an obvious defeat is the GOP strategy.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s Plan A is to claim the war was a complete success\u201410\/10, no notes, would wage it again<\/em>. A handful of hawks have been willing to repeat this line. The primary argument is that the bombardment set back Iran\u2019s conventional and nuclear military capabilities enough to justify the cost to the United States. \u201cThe fact is that the missile program is in ruins, just like the nuclear weapons program,\u201d the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt proposed.<\/p>\n

This rationalization overlooks a few small points, such as the fact that Iran\u2019s missile program is not in ruins at all. American intelligence reportedly estimated last month that Iran retains 70 percent of its missiles and launchers, and has restored 30 of its 33 missile sites. Trump himself is now arguing that Iran must retain ballistic missiles as a matter of fairness. (\u201cThey have to have some,\u201d he said yesterday, \u201cbecause other people have some.\u201d) Moreover, Trump\u2019s deal would ultimately give Iran enormous new revenue streams by eliminating decades of economic sanctions, along with providing hundreds of billions of dollars in what Iran calls reparations. The money will eventually allow Tehran to build its military capacity beyond current levels.<\/p>\n

As for Iran\u2019s nuclear program, if it were<\/em> in ruins, that would primarily be as a result of bombings that occurred last year; outside experts believe that the most recent war caused less damage to the program. In any case, ruins<\/em> seems exaggerated. Iran\u2019s nuclear material is buried underground but can be recovered, and its ability to deter attacks by threatening the Strait of Hormuz will permit it to restore the program over time. This is precisely why Iran hawks were insisting for months\u2014even as Vance reportedly expressed skepticism of full-scale war\u2014that the continued military action was necessary.<\/p>\n

After having claimed that Iran\u2019s missiles and nuclear efforts are existential risks to American interests, most hawks will have trouble bringing themselves to call the deal that leaves the programs intact as a great victory. Republicans who have too much self-respect to reverse themselves so nakedly have a fallback plan: pretend that the defeat was Vance\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cConservatives on the Hill are stunned that Vance would erase all of Trump\u2019s military victories in such a terrible deal. Trump effectively won the war and at the 11th hour Vance is negotiating his way to a loss,\u201d one unnamed congressional Republican told NewsNation\u2019s Kellie Meyer. The conservative commentator Ben Shapiro complained, \u201cThe vice president of the United States, the chief negotiator on this particular project, has not well served the president.\u201d On Fox News, Brian Kilmeade tentatively suggested, \u201cI just wonder if the vice president, who was against this, by all reports was against the conflict to begin with, maybe he wasn\u2019t the right person to bring this conflict to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n

But why would Trump authorize his vice president to make unnecessary concessions? Why, indeed, would a supposedly brilliant negotiator leave such an important negotiation to Vance at all? (Kilmeade explained that Trump \u201chas too many plates in the air that he can\u2019t be into every detail,\u201d as if obsessing over the color of the Reflecting Pool is a more important use of the president\u2019s time than avoiding a geopolitical catastrophe).<\/p>\n

Read more America Is Headed Toward the Infinite Workweek<\/a><\/p>\n

If the logic here is contorted, it does make political sense to Republican hawks who want to elevate Secretary of State Marco Rubio as Trump\u2019s successor. The war they supported has ended in failure, but they don\u2019t want the party\u2019s anti-interventionist wing to benefit. Therefore their plan is to blame Vance, who opposed the Iran war all along, for the defeat, while insulating Rubio, who is said to have favored the conflict, from its consequences. The main opponent of starting the war becomes the sap tasked with promoting the surrender terms to the public.<\/p>\n

Vance is clearly betting that most Republicans will prefer his version of the story, which presents the Iran war as the latest Trump win in a line of unbroken victories that runs from the greatest landslide in American history to making the Reflecting Pool blue again. \u201cHave a little faith in the president of the United States,\u201d he said at a press conference today, \u201cThe idea that he is gonna strike a deal that\u2019s bad for the American people, it\u2019s preposterous.\u201d<\/p>\n

A healthy conservative movement would be able to concede error, rather than resorting to a choose-your-own-adventure ruse in which the war is Trump\u2019s if we won and Vance\u2019s if we lost. But the movement has decayed to the point that honest analysis is impossible, and prominent Republicans hardly bother to pretend otherwise.<\/p>\n

When details of the memorandum of understanding first leaked, Senator Lindsey Graham expressed dismay. Graham has espoused ultra-hawkish views for decades, and has deferred to Trump again and again in an apparent effort to maintain his ability to pull the president toward his position. When a reporter informed Trump this week of Graham\u2019s concern, the president didn\u2019t even bother to show anger.<\/p>\n

\u201cLindsey is skeptical? I\u2019ll have to talk to Lindsey,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe\u2019ll be in big trouble. Lindsey\u2019s good. Lindsey\u2019s fine. He\u2019s not skeptical. He\u2019s just fine.\u201d Indeed, just as Trump expected, Graham has swallowed his objections and praised the deal as \u201cessential\u201d and \u201cworthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

On some level, GOP hawks understand that their real dispute is with the president, not with Vance. A \u201csource close to the president\u201d told the New York Post<\/em> that \u201cJD is just a proxy for attacking [Trump], because they can\u2019t do that.\u201d If Republicans wish to scrutinize how their party blundered into a calamitous war, the personality cult around the blunderer in chief might be a good place to begin.<\/p>\n

Read more The Democratic Base Is Ready to Go<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If the president is infallible, there must be some other explanation for his Iran defeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ideas"],"yoast_head":"\nIf Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing - Commercial Relocation Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing - Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If the president is infallible, there must be some other explanation for his Iran defeat.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T17:41:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"headline\":\"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T17:41:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708\"},\"wordCount\":1090,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/775eb0cfbbd94c105a9a282544ed0653.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ideas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708\",\"name\":\"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing - Commercial Relocation Pros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/775eb0cfbbd94c105a9a282544ed0653.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T17:41:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/775eb0cfbbd94c105a9a282544ed0653.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/775eb0cfbbd94c105a9a282544ed0653.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":625},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=708#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Relocation Pros\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing - Commercial Relocation Pros","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing - Commercial Relocation Pros","og_description":"If the president is infallible, there must be some other explanation for his Iran defeat.","og_url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708","og_site_name":"Commercial Relocation Pros","article_published_time":"2026-06-18T17:41:24+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"headline":"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing","datePublished":"2026-06-18T17:41:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708"},"wordCount":1090,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/775eb0cfbbd94c105a9a282544ed0653.avif","articleSection":["Ideas"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708","name":"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing - Commercial Relocation Pros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/775eb0cfbbd94c105a9a282544ed0653.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-18T17:41:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/775eb0cfbbd94c105a9a282544ed0653.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/775eb0cfbbd94c105a9a282544ed0653.avif","width":1200,"height":625},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=708#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"If Only Trump Knew What Vance Is Doing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/","name":"Commercial Relocation Pros","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com"],"url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}