The attempted <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/why-the-vatican-and-the-white-house">hit piece</a> on one of J.D. Vance&#8217;s closest allies in the administration fell apart in a day.
Let&#8217;s take a step back to understand the context. For years, Elbridge Colby — currently the Undersecretary of War for Policy at the Pentagon, a prominent and respected realist thinker on national security — has been the target of attacks from those seeking to undermine his status within the policy community. These attacks have come primarily from neoconservatives seeking to undermine someone who has the resume of a future secretary of state or the like.
Now, as with so many other disputes, Colby has come to serve as a proxy for the true target of criticism: Vice President J.D. Vance, who purportedly shares many of his foreign policy views.
The latest assault originated in the The Free Press, which published a freelance writer who made audacious, unsourced claims about conversations that occurred within a January meeting with representatives of the Catholic Church. Concerning a meeting between Pentagon officials and the Apostolic Nuncio Christophe Cardinal Pierre — preceding any critique by the Pope of the current conflict in Iran — The Free Press published claims that read like they were designed by AI to offend Catholics everywhere.
Describing the confab as &#8220;a bitter lecture warning that the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants—and that the Church had better take its side,&#8221; it included the hair-on-fire claim that in the meeting, Pentagon officials — presumably including Colby — &#8220;went so far as to invoke the Avignon Papacy, the period in the 1300s when the French Crown leveraged its military power to dominate the papal authority.&#8221;
The claim was echoed by the ideologically incoherent band of Trump administration critics, in this case including The Atlantic&#8217;s David French, Pod Save America&#8217;s Jon Favreau, and noted resident of the furthest reaches of the galaxy Candace Owens. Bro podcaster Shawn Ryan <a href="https://x.com/ShawnRyan762/status/2041990673222570488">suggested</a> that the Trump administration was literally threatening to bomb the Vatican.
The report led to this question on the tarmac in Hungary of Vance, who was clearly blindsided by the claims:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="JD Vance Reacts to Report US Official Issued Threat to Vatican Ambassador" width="422" height="750" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7DJc5jCOYT4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The only problem with this report is that everyone in the room has said that&#8217;s not what happened. This comment in response from Brian Burch, Ambassador to the Holy See, related the views of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who retired as the Apostolic Nuncio following his 80th birthday:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I was pleased to speak today with His Eminence, Cardinal Christophe Pierre. As expected, he confirmed that recent media characterizations of his meeting with Undersecretary Colby are “fabrications” that were “just invented.” Given the intelligence and seriousness of Mr. Colby, I… <a href="https://t.co/R2ogLy2HAf">https://t.co/R2ogLy2HAf</a>
— Ambassador Brian Burch (@BrianBurchUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianBurchUSA/status/2042307511504519366?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I was pleased to speak today with His Eminence, Cardinal Christophe Pierre. As expected, he confirmed that recent media characterizations of his meeting with Undersecretary Colby are &#8216;fabrication&#8217; that were &#8216;just invented.&#8217; Given the intelligence and seriousness of Mr. Colby, I was likewise not surprised when His Eminence acknowledged there were no threats of any kind in the meeting. &#8216;It was a frank and cordial meeting that took place two months ago.&#8217; Threat of Avignon? &#8216;None.'&#8221;
In fairness, the participants were smiling an awful lot for just getting threatened with Dresden on the Tiber.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby <a href="https://twitter.com/USWPColby?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USWPColby</a> had a substantive, respectful, and professional meeting with Cardinal Pierre, the then-Papal Nuncio, and his team on January 22, 2026. During the cordial meeting, they discussed a range of topics, including issues of… <a href="https://t.co/McI0sB2wKC">pic.twitter.com/McI0sB2wKC</a>
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DOWResponse/status/2042300020494418303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Vatican release this morning is as definitive as it gets, reading in full:
<blockquote>
As confirmed by His Excellency Christophe Pierre, former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, his meeting with Mr. Elbridge Andrew Colby was part of the Pontifical Representative’s regular duties and provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on matters of mutual interest. The account offered by certain media outlets regarding this meeting does not correspond to the truth in any way.
</blockquote>
There are denials, and then there are vociferous denials, and then there are unequivocal denials. The Free Press piece remains published, with only an editor&#8217;s note giving comment from the Pentagon. The question we should be asking is this: Why would anyone run such a thinly sourced piece attacking the prominently Catholic vice president unless there was an underlying agenda?

Pope Leo XIV Meets With JD Vance And Marco Rubio, The Day After Inauguration Mass

Don’t Fall Prey To Claims The Trump Administration Wants To Bomb The Vatican

Catholics

JD Vance

Trump Administration

If one were to believe that the survival of the West is at a crucial inflection point, it makes sense that America — the lone superpower, as an enfeebled Britain limps along self-righteously — would shore up allies in the Old Country. One way to do that is to send the most powerful man in the world’s Number Two to both extend the hand of goodwill and rapport, and to absorb the inevitable criticisms that have been hurled by the Continental class regarding the potential partnership.
It tracks then that the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board <a href="https://archive.ph/5aOuP%23selection-569.0-572.0">cannot seem</a> to comprehend why Vice President JD Vance is currently touring Budapest. “The Orbán affinity seems to be a combination of Mr. Vance’s ideological conviction and domestic coalition maintenance,” the paper writes, adding that, “Mr. Vance is convinced Mr. Orbán is on the front line of the West’s culture wars.” Orbán is. And Vance’s Budapest visit is possibly one of his career&#8217;s most important tests.
Consider the VP’s own words. “Foreign influence is when other governments threaten, cajole, and try to use economic influence to tell you how to vote &#8230; That is fundamentally an assault on your sovereignty,” the VP said <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2041875731559440607">in an interview</a>. Furthermore, he added, in a speech, “We were birthed from this continent,” reinforcing the civilizational ties. The WSJ is baffled at that. “Mr. Vance trotted out the word ‘sovereignty’ repeatedly during Tuesday’s appearance in Budapest to inveigh against putative EU meddling in Hungarian affairs.”
The Hungarian election this year is important for two different reasons. The fact that the VP is flying to Budapest for a high-profile visit and speeches in Europe, as well as to Islamabad, for the peace negotiations with Iran, demonstrates which side won the ideological debate within the White House and to which direction the grand strategy of this country might lead. But there is another important factor.
Beyond rhetorical symbolism about “civilizational ties,” the question is strategic. Within the European Union, Hungary remains one of the rare few states still considered neutral by both the U.S. and Russia, thereby positioning itself as a neutral ground for diplomacy.
Furthermore, Budapest has prioritized de-escalation in Ukraine since 2022 and continues to simultaneously condemn the Russian invasion while arguing for negotiation, a traditional detached realist outlook shaped by Hungarian geography: Hungary borders Ukraine, and is concerned about ethnic Hungarians in the Transcarpathia region, and has taken in over a million Ukrainian refugees.
Budapest is also a pivot point for U.S. trade rivalry with the EU. The <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/hungarys-foreign-minister-trump-is-ukraines-only-hope-for-peace/">Hungarian leadership consistently argued</a> that EU sanctions on Russia have had unintended consequences, including energy shortages, inflation, and industrial strain in Europe, while Russia has continued to benefit from high global energy prices. Orbán has likewise warned against accelerating Ukraine’s membership in NATO, a position that has gained some reflection in recent U.S. strategic thinking.
The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf">2025 U.S. National Security Strategy</a> clearly states that there must be a pause in NATO enlargement, there should be total “burden shifting” of conventional security to NATO, and that the EU shouldn’t fine American companies and trade through cynical legislation that also curtails free speech, such as the European <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act">Digital Services Act</a>. There is only one country that is aligned with the U.S. on all those interests.
Hungary faces its own challenges and contradictions. Eventually, it will have to either acquiesce to broader European oversight or follow Britain out of the EU. Orbán has sought to reform the EU from within rather than leave it, but that play won’t succeed without the U.S. decisively winning the trade and free-speech wars with the EU. His government faces ongoing pressure from Brussels through legal challenges and financial penalties, but being within the EU gives it veto power over European decisions that might harm U.S. financial interests.
Hungary is also a testing ground and a source of inspiration for similar socio-political tendencies in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, particularly in natalist policies, even if its model is difficult to replicate in larger and more diverse societies.
This is rooted in Hungary’s historical experience with external domination, against the Nazis and Soviets, which reinforces elite skepticism toward ceding total authority to Brussels. Continued electoral success for Orbán would sustain this fragile model but likely also intensify EU pressure and raise the risk of political and economic friction. A defeat, however, would probably lead to rapid alignment with mainstream EU trade and social policies, and would be detrimental to U.S. interests.
It cannot be expected of the WSJ Editorial Board to be historically minded, but during the presidency of Millard Fillmore, the Hungarian nationalist Lajos (Louis) Kossuth visited and gave a<a href="https://millercenter.org/president/fillmore/foreign-affairs"> joint address at the U.S. Congress</a>, the second such foreigner after Lafayette. He then proceeded to visit Ohio, then the largest Hungarian diaspora in the country, and gave a speech stating that the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190414134246/https://ohiohistoryhost.org/ohiomemory/archives/3834">spirit of our age is democracy</a> opposed to imperialism. Whether he can pull the current Hungarian administration over the electoral line is a different question, but it is only fitting that a former senator of Ohio and the current vice president be visiting Europe and remind Europeans of that same sentiment, that sovereignty, free speech, and democracy are far more important than transnational imperialism.
***
Dr. Sumantra Maitra is a historian based in Virginia.

VP JD Vance And PM Viktor Orban Hold A Joint Rally In Budapest, 5 Days Before The Hungarian Election.

The WSJ Is Baffled By JD Vance’s U.S. Diplomacy In Hungary

European Union

Foreign Policy

Hungary

Victor Orban

A leading coalition of state financial officers plans to share new polling data, and a sharpened warning about what it calls an “invisible tax” on American families, with Vice President J.D. Vance’s anti-fraud task force leadership, as the Trump administration’s broader “war on fraud” continues to take shape.
The survey, conducted by Deep Root Analytics and obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire, underscores just how politically potent the issue has become. 87% of voters say they are concerned about fraud or misuse of taxpayer dollars, including 50% who say they are “very concerned.” Another 83% say fraud contributes to higher taxes and rising costs for families, while a majority, 52%, believe little fraud is actually being stopped.
Taken together, the numbers point to a shift: voters are no longer viewing fraud as a niche or bureaucratic issue, but as a direct driver of the affordability crisis.
“Americans rightly understand that fraud is the invisible tax worsening the affordability crisis,” OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), told The Daily Wire. “Taxpayer dollars being stolen and wasted by fraudsters isn’t just a criminal issue, it’s an economic one.”
Oleka said the group intends to ensure those concerns are heard at the highest levels of the administration. “We support Vice President Vance’s leadership of the anti-fraud task force and hope these survey results will help guide and strengthen their mission,” he added.
The outreach builds on prior coordination between the group and the administration. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-report-contrasts-minnesota-fraud-with-big-wins-for-red-state-taxpayers">previously reported</a>, SFOF shared its sweeping oversight report with Vance via letter in late February, pledging state-level cooperation as the White House elevated fraud enforcement into a national priority.
That report detailed how SFOF’s network of conservative treasurers, auditors, and comptrollers, spanning 28 states, helped recover or safeguard roughly $28 billion in taxpayer funds in a single year through efforts targeting waste, fraud, abuse, and financial mismanagement.
In that sense, the new polling represents both a political and policy reinforcement of a message the group has been advancing for months: that fraud is not just a law enforcement issue, but a central economic concern.
The administration has increasingly echoed that framing. President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-launches-war-on-fraud-taps-vance-to-lead-fed-crackdown-on-benefits-scams">tasked</a> Vance with leading a government-wide task force aimed at identifying vulnerabilities in public benefit programs and strengthening safeguards against abuse. Officials have warned that large-scale fraud is draining billions from programs intended to serve vulnerable Americans while undermining public trust.
The administration’s renewed focus on fraud comes as congressional Republicans continue to highlight high-profile cases like the sprawling pandemic-era fraud scandal in Minnesota, which Trump has <a href="https://www.fox9.com/news/trump-state-union-mn-stunning-corruption-ilhan-omar-exchange">described</a> as a “stunning example” of systemic failure, and as oversight efforts ramp up heading into the midterms.
That federal push is now converging with state-level efforts already underway, since before the administration formalized its initiative, SFOF members have positioned themselves as frontline watchdogs of taxpayer dollars, a role Oleka reiterated in a recent letter to Vance.
“In the months and years ahead, SFOF and our state financial officers stand ready to support you and everyone in the administration involved in this fight as allies already on the battlefield,” he wrote. “By working together, we can protect our nation’s treasure to the fullest extent against every foe and every plot to endanger it.”
State officials say the polling suggests that approach is aligned with voter sentiment across the political spectrum.
“The survey makes clear that Americans across the political spectrum are concerned about their tax dollars being lost to fraud and waste,” Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks, the group’s national chairman, exclusively told The Daily Wire. “When accountability weakens, the financial burden ultimately falls on households.”
That connection is borne out in the data. A majority of voters, 53%,  say government policy, spending, or taxation is the primary driver of rising costs, while 70% say there is too little oversight and support more aggressive fraud investigations.
As the administration leans further into fraud enforcement as both an economic and political issue, with Vance at the center and state-level allies reinforcing the message, the findings are likely to serve as fresh ammunition in what is shaping up to be a defining policy fight ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Fraud

EXCLUSIVE: The ‘Invisible Tax’ Quietly Hitting Your Wallet Is Getting Harder To Ignore

Economy

Politics

Vice President JD Vance clapped back at popular podcast host Joe Rogan on Friday after Rogan blasted President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Make America Great Again&#8221; slogan and movement.
During an episode of the &#8220;Joe Rogan Experience&#8221; that dropped earlier this week, Rogan said the &#8220;Make America Great Again&#8221; phrase &#8220;sucks,&#8221; adding that MAGA has become &#8220;a movement of a bunch of dorks.&#8221;
&#8220;First of all, America is great,&#8221; Rogan said during an interview with comedian Dave Smith. &#8220;Make America greater? I&#8217;m down. But &#8216;Make America Great Again&#8217; and then it becomes a movement of a bunch of f*cking dorks? Because a lot of them are dorks. A lot of them are these really weird, f*cking uninteresting, unintelligent people that have got something that they cling to.&#8221;
Rogan added that &#8220;there’s a lot of people that are just real genuine patriots and they’re all lumped into this one group and you got to accept the dorks, too? F*ck that!&#8221;
Vance, who has been friendly with Rogan and appeared on Rogan&#8217;s podcast in October 2024, responded to the comedian&#8217;s comments during an interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson on Friday.
&#8220;I think we have many, many fewer dorks than the far-Left,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;But everybody&#8217;s got some dorks. We love our dorks. We love our cool kids. We love anybody who wants to save our country.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Vice President JD Vance PUNCHES BACK at Joe Rogan for Calling MAGA ‘Dorks’
“Far fewer dorks than the far-left. But we love our dorks. We love our cool kids. We just want to save the country”
Vance Also HIT BACK at Joe Rogan for Claiming Obama And Hillary Were ‘Better At… <a href="https://t.co/s8ViWvjnrt">pic.twitter.com/s8ViWvjnrt</a>
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/2037599563864059907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>
Both Rogan and Smith backed Trump and Vance in the 2024 election, but they have become increasingly critical of the president over his handling of foreign policy and the Epstein files. Smith, a regular guest on Rogan&#8217;s show, aligns with many of the anti-Israel views spouted by commentators and politicians on the far-Left. Both Rogan and Smith suggested that Trump has betrayed his base over the Iran war, but polling consistently shows that Trump&#8217;s supporters back his actions in Iran.
In another episode of his podcast this week, Rogan brought up MAGA and quipped that Democrats like former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used to be &#8220;more MAGA than MAGA” on border security.
“Her take on the border was like hardcore,” Rogan said. “If you’ve been convicted of a crime, get out. If you stay here, pay a stiff penalty, and you have to get in line, and you have to learn English! And everyone cheers. Like, that is a hardcore right-wing 2026 perspective.”
He then said that Obama &#8220;deported more people than Trump did.&#8221;
Vance also responded to Rogan&#8217;s comments on Democrats&#8217; past support for border security and said Rogan was &#8220;wrong&#8221; for suggesting that Obama was better at deporting illegal immigrants than Trump.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to text Joe because that is definitely wrong,&#8221; Vance told Johnson. &#8220;Here&#8217;s why this is wrong: when you look at the deportation numbers that go back to the Obama administration, they would count somebody who showed up at the border and they turned away as a deportation. Now, we have almost no one showing up at the border because the border is secure.&#8221;

Trump/Vance/Rogan

JD Vance Responds After Joe Rogan Hurls Insults At Trump’s Movement

Donald Trump

Joe Rogan

MAGA

Vice President JD Vance said on Friday that Somali-born Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar &#8220;definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America&#8221; and added that the Trump administration is seeking to &#8220;go after her.&#8221;
Vance, who is leading President Donald Trump&#8217;s anti-fraud crackdown throughout the United States, was <a href="https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/2037584240259240315">asked</a> about fraud allegations against Omar by conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
&#8220;We actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;And I talked to [Trump adviser] Stephen Miller about this recently, we&#8217;re trying to look at what the remedies are.&#8221;
“What are the legal remedies now that we know she’s committed immigration fraud? How do you go after her? How do you investigate her? How do you build the case necessary to get some justice for the American people?” Vance added.
As Trump zeroed in on investigating fraud in Minnesota in recent months, he brought up allegations that Omar married her brother to help him obtain a green card. Trump has also called for Omar to be &#8220;thrown out of the country.&#8221; People convicted of immigration fraud could be denaturalized and deported under U.S. law, and people can be convicted for fraudulently helping another person obtain naturalization.
Omar arrived in the United States as a refugee in 1995 and became a U.S. citizen in 2000, when she was just 17 years old. Nine years later, Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom some allege is her biological brother. Omar has been accused of marrying Elmi, who was a British citizen at the time, so he could obtain a green card. Omar and Elmi reportedly separated in 2011, just two years after their marriage, and officially divorced in 2017.
Elmi was Omar&#8217;s second husband. She married Ahmed Hirsi in a religious ceremony in 2002, but never made the marriage legally valid. Omar said she split from Hirsi, the father of her three children, in 2008, just one year before she married Elmi. Omar and her first husband reconciled just months after separating from Elmi.
Omar, one of the most liberal lawmakers on Capitol Hill, has <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/08/17/ilhan-omar-marriage-history">denied</a> the accusations that she married her biological brother, calling them &#8220;absurd and offensive.&#8221;
Vance also said that Omar is being scrutinized over her connection to &#8220;a lot of the worst fraudsters in the Somali community&#8221; in Minneapolis. The vice president told Johnson that he&#8217;s &#8220;not certain&#8221; that Omar was aware of the fraud being committed in Minnesota, but added, &#8220;We certainly need to investigate it.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m worried about the immigration fraud,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;I&#8217;m also worried about what did Ilhan Omar know about what was happening in the Somali community, and why was nobody looking into it until, frankly, Donald Trump came along?&#8221;
Federal prosecutors have uncovered billions of dollars of fraud in Minnesota in recent years. The massive fraud scandal resulted in dozens of convictions and involved many people from Minneapolis’s large Somali community.

Ilhan Omar/JD Vance

Vance Drops ‘Immigration Fraud’ Bombshell On ‘Squad’ Member

Vance Says Ilhan Omar 'Definitely Committed Immigration Fraud'

Ilhan Omar

Immigration

Minnesota

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump&#8217;s anti-fraud Task Force is delivering its opening marching orders this week in a memo from Vice President JD Vance, obtained first by the Daily Wire. The memo outlines a four-part plan that includes more prosecutions, better prevention methods, and targeting programs that are most ripe for abuse.
The newly-minted task force&#8217;s primary objective is to stop fraud that is &#8220;bleeding the federal government dry, robbing taxpayers, and denying honest Americans the services for which they have paid,&#8221; according to the memo, which comes from Vance and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Task Force. The &#8220;Tackling Fraud Across Public Programs&#8221; memorandum is directed to members of the anti-fraud team, which includes White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
The Task Force plans to prosecute those committing fraud and to recover as much fraudulently obtained money as it can, focusing on high-spend, low-verification programs. It acknowledges that recovering money lost to fraud is exceptionally difficult, and therefore emphasizes the need to improve prevention methods to stop the money from flowing out in the first place.
According to the memo, the federal government loses about $250 billion annually due to fraud, and only recovers about $10 billion of it, due to the &#8220;pay-and-chase&#8221; method of government payments.
For immediate next steps, the Task Force is ordered to first instruct all its members to report anti-fraud measures that are currently underway, and to investigate the Biden administration&#8217;s policies on fraud prevention — and report back on whether the Biden administration &#8220;failed to use available tools to prevent fraud, and to what extent.&#8221;
Other initial steps include assessing and implementing existing data analysis tools and tech, identifying more tools for combatting fraud, proposing new regulations and legislation, and creating new teams within agencies.
The memo identifies three primary reasons to significantly increase fraud prosecutions: the American people&#8217;s right to justice, the need to establish deterrence against fraud, and the need for accountability.
&#8220;The widespread fraud has not been committed by isolated bad actors; large and powerful networks have furthered this fraud. The American people have a right to know how the fraud problem has gotten so bad, and prosecutions will shed light on how this happened,&#8221; the memo reads.
DOJ&#8217;s new Assistant Attorney General for Fraud, Colin McDonald, will be serving as a member of the Task Force and leading the prosecutorial proceedings.
<div id="attachment_1066553" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-first-look-at-the-trump-admins-playbook-to-root-out-government-fraud/president-trump-and-vp-vance-sign-documents-establishing-fraud-task-force" rel="attachment wp-att-1066553"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1066553" class="wp-image-1066553 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266913798-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266913798-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266913798-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266913798-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266913798.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;We cannot litigate ourselves out of the fraud problem,&#8221; the memo states. &#8220;Research findings show over 1,000,000 suspicious Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and more than 2,000 suspicious durable medical equipment (DME) companies. The federal government simply does not have the resources necessary to recover all of the money lost to fraud once it has been paid out. Many fraudsters are judgment proof and therefore could not pay back the money they stole even after a successful prosecution.&#8221;
The task force also identifies &#8220;hostile, partisan, and lawless federal judges in nearly every state&#8221; as another barrier to litigating the fraud away.
To stop fraud from taking place at all, the task force wants major payor agencies to &#8220;use data to check for patterns of fraud like unreasonable growth, impossible services, too many companies at the same location, and other hallmarks of fraud.&#8221;
&#8220;The government must establish fraud indicators by which the major payor agencies can detect fraud and deny payment,&#8221; the memo says. &#8220;And major payor agencies must learn to refuse payment when the risk of fraud reaches unacceptable levels. In light of the fraud crisis, agencies must abandon their presumption in favor of payment; they must pay only when they are confident that the payment is legitimate and lawful.&#8221;
Many of the government agencies already have existing tools that they can use to combat fraud — at HHS, as the memo points out, there are technological systems already in place for both detecting and blocking fraud. The only problem: these systems have &#8220;long been used incorrectly&#8221; and the fraud detection has been done after the money has already been sent. Fixing these systems will be part of the task force&#8217;s job: the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services, which is housed under HHS, has already deployed &#8220;new preventative approaches&#8221; that put blocks on fraud services up front.
The memo identifies a handful of &#8220;high-spend, low-verification&#8221; programs that will be targeted: Medicare and Medicaid ($2 trillion a year in spending), Department of Labor&#8217;s Unemployment Insurance ($43.5 billion a year), Department of Agriculture&#8217;s SNAP program ($101 billion a year), Health and Human Services&#8217; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ($16 billion a year), Department of Housing and Urban Development&#8217;s Rental Assistance / Public Housing ($64 billion a year), and the Small Business Administration loans and assistance ($104 billion a year).

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

EXCLUSIVE: First Look At The Trump Admin’s Playbook To Root Out Government Fraud

Andrew Ferguson

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday establishing a new federal task force aimed at combating fraud in government benefit programs, with Vice President JD Vance set to lead the initiative.
The new body, formally titled the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, will coordinate a government-wide effort to investigate and prevent fraud affecting programs administered jointly by federal, state, and local governments, including housing, food assistance, and health care benefits.
According to administration officials, the task force will develop a national strategy to identify vulnerabilities in government benefit systems and implement stronger safeguards such as identity verification requirements, documentation standards, and audits designed to prevent abuse.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;This is a very big thing that we’re doing&#8230; having to do with all of the fraud that’s taking place in our country.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> prepares to sign an Executive Order establishing a <a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VP</a>-led task force to root out fraud, as outlined in his State of the Union address. <a href="https://t.co/5tSg93E1Io">pic.twitter.com/5tSg93E1Io</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2033638488864587776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, will serve as vice chair of the task force, while White House adviser Stephen Miller will act as senior adviser. Cabinet-level officials will participate as needed depending on the programs under review.
The effort is part of a broader “war on fraud” designed to root out large-scale scams that divert taxpayer money away from programs intended to assist vulnerable Americans. “In states across the country, fraudsters are depriving vulnerable citizens of basic social services, stealing billions of your tax dollars, and eroding America’s social fabric,” a spokesperson for Vance told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/16/us-news/trump-to-formally-name-vance-chair-of-fraud-task-force-with-these-states-in-crosshairs/">New York Post</a>. “This fraud has happened on such a massive scale that it’s endangering the future viability of America’s entire social safety net.”
The order comes amid heightened scrutiny of fraud in government-funded programs, including a major scandal in Minnesota involving fraudulent claims tied to nutrition and autism care services that has resulted in dozens of criminal indictments. Officials say the administration believes similar vulnerabilities may exist in states including California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado.
The task force is also being launched as the administration moves to strengthen federal enforcement efforts. Trump recently nominated Colin Macdonald to serve as the Justice Department’s first assistant attorney general focused specifically on fraud enforcement.
Earlier this year, Vance and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services, announced that $259.5 million in Medicaid reimbursements for Minnesota would be withheld amid fraud concerns, giving Gov. Tim Walz 60 days to submit a corrective action plan.
Vance also announced a nationwide pause on certain companies seeking Medicare subsidies for durable medical equipment such as canes and walkers, while federal officials review the program for potential abuse.
Outside watchdog groups praised the move as a necessary step to address waste and fraud in government programs. “The State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) salutes President Trump for ordering the creation of this task force and stands ready to support him and the Vice President as key allies already on the battlefield,” said OJ Oleka, CEO of SFOF.
Oleka pointed to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-report-contrasts-minnesota-fraud-with-big-wins-for-red-state-taxpayers">recent report</a> from the group showing that 40 conservative state treasurers, auditors, and comptrollers recovered roughly $28 billion in taxpayer funds from waste, fraud, and abuse in 2025 alone. “Our fiscal watchdogs are on the frontlines of this fight in the states,” Oleka said. “Their successful oversight should serve as a model for this task force as it works to expose and eradicate fraud nationwide.”
The administration says the new task force will coordinate closely with state financial officials and federal agencies as it develops its national anti-fraud strategy, which Trump officials argue is critical to protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring public benefit programs remain sustainable for future generations.

US President Donald Trump, alongside Vice President JD Vance

Trump Launches ‘War On Fraud,’ Taps Vance To Lead Fed Crackdown On Benefits Scams

Executive

At The Daily Wire, we strive to provide our audience not just with accurate reporting and insightful commentary, but with the tools they need to parse the issues of our time. That’s why we’re thrilled to partner with our friends at Manhattan Institute to bring you exclusive commentary and research from their world-class team of scholars.
Each week, Manhattan Institute scholars will bring their analysis right here to The Daily Wire — from insights into politics and hot-button cultural issues to original research on everything from education and race to public safety and the economy.
You’ll hear from Manhattan Institute scholars you know and love, like Christopher Rufo and Heather Mac Donald, as well as scholars you’ve not encountered before. But no matter the scholar or the subject, these pieces will be as engaging as they are informative. They’ll also highlight what Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/ben-shapiro-city-journal-award-remarks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Manhattan Institute’s “unwavering optimism about America.”
We’re excited to launch this series with a piece from Manhattan Institute president Reihan Salam. In it, Reihan looks past the 2026 midterms to the 2028 presidential election and offers a roadmap for how Republicans might win in their first-ever post-Trump race. We hope you enjoy. – The Editors
***
Since he came down the golden escalator in 2015, President Donald Trump has been at the center of American public life. It’s strange, therefore, to realize that the Trump era is slowly but inexorably drawing to a close.
Republicans <a href="https://kalshi.com/markets/controlh/house-winner/controlh-2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kalshi.com/markets/controlh/house-winner/controlh-2026&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3i1aLo6xywbQb9qJXblVaN">look likely</a> to lose the House of Representatives in November, which will almost certainly bog down the rest of Trump’s administration in interminable impeachment hearings. And the president is increasingly sustaining attacks from within his own party, whether that be from the <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-rebel-humiliates-trump-white-house-with-brutal-new-nickname/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-rebel-humiliates-trump-white-house-with-brutal-new-nickname/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2OBjzgfHnIcK1MekNIkR7s">Epstein-obsessed fringe</a> or from <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/06/tim-scott-trump-obama-ape-video" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.axios.com/2026/02/06/tim-scott-trump-obama-ape-video&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0KmNWdRSf_oZaz5th4kTiZ">those unhappy with</a> his social media presence.
All of this raises the question that has for years felt unthinkable: what comes after Trump? To an increasingly loud faction on the online right, the answer is a noxious blend of extreme ideologies. But that would be a mistake. Keeping the Trump Train going means embracing Trump’s 2024 strategy: playing to the majority of Americans on issues on which the right can win.
For the past decade, Trump has been the glue that binds together an otherwise fractious — or perhaps incoherent — GOP. What, besides Trump, does the party stand for? Free enterprise or organized labor? Isolationism or peace through strength? Controlling illegal immigration or prohibiting all immigration? Trump kept these divisions suppressed through his charisma, but they are likely to spring to the fore when he is gone.
One group has a vision for what comes next — the online Right, also sometimes called the “woke Right” or, as Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro recently <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/ben-shapiro-city-journal-award-remarks" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.city-journal.org/article/ben-shapiro-city-journal-award-remarks&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2pm3ebJXqsJnidS2nZweuX">labeled them</a>, the “horseshoe Right.” This loose collection of podcasters, posters, and fringe politicians are mobilized around a clear policy platform: skepticism of business and earned wealth; opposition to all immigration; a preference for isolationism and sometimes even open kowtowing to Russia and China; and in general, a politics powered by resentment.
The online right has a clear thesis. To them, Trump’s success was based on his willingness to break taboos and — by implication — to move toward their preferred policy positions. If the GOP wants to hold on to the Trump magic, they argue, then it needs to veer even more towards their particular brand of rightism.
As Trump’s era ends, this argument seems increasingly appealing to his would-be inheritors. In Florida, former debate coach and<a href="https://freebeacon.com/america/florida-gubernatorial-candidate-accused-of-grooming-minor-may-not-even-be-eligible-for-election/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://freebeacon.com/america/florida-gubernatorial-candidate-accused-of-grooming-minor-may-not-even-be-eligible-for-election/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1XUZ5lpLWhy2aDba3BopTg"> Washington, D.C., resident</a> James Fishback is running a <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/florida-governor-race-james-fishback-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.city-journal.org/article/florida-governor-race-james-fishback-trump&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2s2BWbwK-Z9yz3GAsv2uK_">very online campaign</a> for the governorship. Republican dissenters like Rep. Thomas Massie (KY) and former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have embraced the online right’s love of conspiracy and its skepticism towards an assertive foreign policy. Even Vice President JD Vance, perhaps anxious about keeping Trump’s coalition intact, seems wary of provoking the online right.
<h3 dir="ltr"><a href="https://manhattan.institute/subscribe?utm_source=DailyWire&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=reihan">Click here for more Manhattan Institute content.</a></h3>
It is easy to be seduced by loud voices on X, especially between elections. But the online right’s theory of the electorate doesn’t match up with reality. Nearly 80% of Americans <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/692522/surge-concern-immigration-abated.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.gallup.com/poll/692522/surge-concern-immigration-abated.aspx&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2XSEFKKy_xUKU3boGFckLU">believe</a> immigration is a “good thing” for America. They don’t back open borders, but they’re also not in favor of halting immigration outright. Americans are nearly <a href="https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/53429-isolationism-is-minority-opinion-in-united-states-america-foreign-policy-november-15-17-2025-economist-yougov-poll" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/53429-isolationism-is-minority-opinion-in-united-states-america-foreign-policy-november-15-17-2025-economist-yougov-poll&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1uVsesFrU2M1zTU_49zDHq">twice as likely</a> to say America should take an “active part” in world affairs as they are to say it should “stay out.” It really is possible to oppose forever wars while supporting the judicious use of force to defend American interests. And while economic nihilism is trending online, a majority of Americans <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/694835/image-capitalism-slips.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.gallup.com/poll/694835/image-capitalism-slips.aspx&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3r2Gm7EpYG4YZDfu5WmUe1">view free enterprise positively</a>, even in the face of relentless doom-mongering.
Nor does the online right’s theory of coalition-building make much sense. To state the obvious, the goal of a campaign is to attract more voters than you repel, not to boost social media engagement. Yet in the online right’s model, Republicans shouldn’t be fighting to consolidate the “normie” majority — the tens of millions of non-ideological voters who care about safe streets, good jobs, decent schools, low taxes, affordable homes, cheap groceries, and other unglamorous essentials. That would be too straightforward. Rather, the online right wants Republicans to lean into strident rhetoric on Wall Street, Israel, and other fixations of the campus Left. The goal is to pick up “populist” voters currently enchanted with the likes of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Is the idea that there are more Mamdani voters who would cross over to the GOP if the party were truly committed to siding with Hamas over Israel than there are, say, suburban swing voters who will support Republicans if they’re less likely to tank the economy than are the Democrats? Or is it that there are millions of Gen Z socialists clamoring for mass deportations? Let’s just say the political logic here isn’t airtight.
There’s an eerie similarity between the arguments advanced by the online right, in fact, and those preferred by portions of the radical activist left. Both insist that mobilizing the base — always composed of true believers — is more important than persuading marginal voters. Both enforce coalitional discipline through ideology, policing out anyone who disagrees with them. Both <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/democratic-party-transgender-ideology-gavin-newsom" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.city-journal.org/article/democratic-party-transgender-ideology-gavin-newsom&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3yOYYR8z7F5qh-EC44WK1a">exercise outsized power</a> despite their small share of the coalition. Both care more about the emotional satisfaction they derive from believing themselves to be edgy or interesting than they do about accomplishing real things in the real world. If Democrats lost in 2024 because they listened too closely to transgender activists, Republicans risk doing the same if they listen too closely to the online right.
What’s the better way forward? Simple: replicate Trump’s winning playbook from 2024.
Donald Trump secured an Electoral College landslide and popular-vote plurality in 2024 by pivoting toward the center, not away from it. He took advantage of Democrats’ unpopular positions on the border, gender, and runaway inflation, aligning himself with the median voter fed up with the status quo. That strategy dramatically widened the coalition, which is why he <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/26/behind-trumps-2024-victory-a-more-racially-and-ethnically-diverse-voter-coalition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/26/behind-trumps-2024-victory-a-more-racially-and-ethnically-diverse-voter-coalition/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1NhJJnrCTqzLYyI8-3HGhU">overperformed</a> with the black and Latino voters Democrats have long thought of as “theirs.”
These voters didn’t vote for Trump to be radical; they voted for Trump because they were against radicalism. They support law and order, meritocracy, and the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/trump-tariffs-supporters/682370/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/trump-tariffs-supporters/682370/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0BmzPmv_djpotvVAVf93Nm">opportunity to lead a decent middle-class life</a>. And while many of them are <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1773343420068000&amp;usg=AOvVaw14EOFauurFkelPa4HHLvCv">dissatisfied</a> with the direction the administration has gone, they’ve evinced a willingness to vote for these values again, especially as the left seems poised to run on an even more extreme platform than they did in 2024.
One of the open questions, of course, is who — if anyone — will champion this “popularist” lane in the 2028 primary. Whoever does will clearly have the winning strategy for the general: unite conservatives and moderates against the hard left. Just as importantly, he or she will be doing the most important thing for the next nominee: picking up Trump’s torch.
***
Reihan Salam is the president of the Manhattan Institute.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Untitled design – 2026-03-11T213557.364

How (Not) To Win In 2028

2026 Midterms

2028 presidential election

Ben Shapiro

Gen Z

As the 2026 midterm elections approach, Democrats are fighting to claim the majority in one or both chambers of Congress. But, according to a recent poll, the Democratic Party is polling below almost every key figure and organization — with the exception of the brutal Iranian regime.
<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27777984-nbc-news-march-2026-poll-03-08-2024-release-final/">An NBC News poll</a>, published by the legacy news outlet on March 8, asked a number of standard questions regarding the economy, military action in Iran, and the overall performance thus far of President Donald Trump — but it also ranked a number of key figures and organizations based on their net favorability.
The Democratic Party, with a net favorability rating of -22, ranked near the bottom of the list — in fact, only the Iranian regime ranked below the Democrats, albeit with a much lower net favorability of -53. Pope Leo the 14th ranked highest overall with a net favorability of 34.
President Donald Trump (-12) and the Republican Party (-14) were near the middle of the list — and as far as 2028 presidential contenders, Republicans fared far better than Democrats did there as well. Two of the most likely Democratic primary candidates — former Vice President Kamala Harris at -17 and Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feminist-hero-katie-couric-asks-gavin-newsom-if-hes-too-hot-to-be-president-in-hard-hitting-interview">Gavin Newsom</a> (D-CA) at -18 — ranked decidedly lower than current Vice President JD Vance (-11) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (-7). Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who is rumored to be considering either a presidential bid or a move to unseat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, was the only Democrat to break into the top half of the list, tying with Vance at -11.
The poll surveyed 1000 registered voters, just over half of whom were female. They were evenly divided along political lines, with 42% saying they leaned Republican, 42% saying they leaned Democrat, and the rest identifying themselves as either independent or other.
As to the other questions, just under half (44%) said they approved of President Trump&#8217;s performance thus far, and 54% disapproved. On border security specifically, the president fared much better, with just over half (53%) approving of his actions and a little less than half (44%) disapproving. On foreign policy, 43% approved and 54% disapproved — a slight shift from one year prior, when 45% approved and 53% disapproved. On the war in Iran, more than one-third (41%) approved of the president&#8217;s actions, and just over half (54%) disapproved.
A number of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/odds-have-gone-plummeting-down-cnn-data-guru-says-democrat-hopes-of-flipping-house-are-fading">polls</a> in recent months have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/voters-abandon-democrats-support-hits-lowest-level-in-more-than-three-decades-poll">spelled trouble</a> for the Democrats, with one from The Wall Street Journal (in July of 2025) noting that Democrats had sunk to their lowest approval rating in decades, with well over half (63%) holding a negative view of the party.

Kamala Harris

Democrats Only Outrank Despotic Iranian Regime In Recent NBC Poll

Democrats

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Iran

Marco Rubio

Polls

Republicans

The following is an edited transcript excerpt from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1923-did-israel-drag-us-into-war-in-iran?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
* * *
There are a lot of people out there in the online chattering class, including Trump supporters, who are saying,
This is ridiculous. We were told “no new wars.” We were told we certainly wouldn’t go to war with Iran. This is a complete betrayal of MAGA and America First.
Some are even arguing that if voters had known America was going to war with Iran, especially if we were going to get dragged into it by Israel, they never would have voted for Trump. He’s a liar, this is a betrayal.
Hold on.
President Trump has been clear for a decade that he is not going to let Iran get a nuclear weapon and that he is going to oppose the Iranian regime. He has also made it pretty clear that he does not like the fact that Iran has repeatedly tried to kill him.
But let’s go deeper than Trump’s rhetoric. Let’s look at what Vice President JD Vance has said.
Back in October 2024, during the vice-presidential debate, Vance was directly asked about a preemptive strike involving Israel and Iran. He was asked this exact question, and he gave an excellent answer:
<blockquote>“Look, it is up to Israel what they think they need to do to keep their country safe. And we should support our allies wherever they are when they’re fighting the bad guys.”</blockquote>
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Vance: ‘It is up to Israel’ whether it would launch pre-emptive strike on Iran" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uy_ENOPCOp0?start=45&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Whether you agree or disagree with Vance’s statement, you cannot accuse the Trump administration of flip-flopping on this issue. You cannot accuse the Trump administration of hiding the ball or deceiving voters.
They promised to do exactly what they are doing now. And they have been very clearly telegraphing it for the past two months, with the military buildup in the Persian Gulf.
That doctrine was not invented last week. It was spelled out in a debate on national television.
Vance gave a similar answer to Sean Hannity back in July of 2024 when <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1923-did-israel-drag-us-into-war-in-iran?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">he articulated</a> what he called the core of the Trump doctrine in foreign policy — you don’t commit America’s troops unless you really have to. But when you do, you “punch hard.”
“If you&#8217;re going to punch the Iranians, you punch them hard,” Vance told Hannity. “And that&#8217;s what he did. We took out Soleimani, by the way. That action, people said that it would lead to a broader war. It actually brought peace. It actually checked the Iranians and slowed them down a little bit.”
And if that weren’t enough, the administration telegraphed its intentions in another way: the military buildup in the Persian Gulf.
For the past two months, the United States has been gradually but severely building up military assets outside of Iran. Aircraft carriers. Strike groups. Strategic positioning. That kind of buildup does not happen overnight because a foreign leader calls and says, “Hey, we’re going in tomorrow. Do whatever you want.”
The notion that Israel sprang this on Washington at the last minute simply does not square with the scale and duration of that preparation.
Now, it may be true that Israeli action influenced the timing. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said as much: Israel was going to strike, and Iran was going to retaliate against U.S. forces, whether we liked it or not. That forced a decision about whether to preemptively strike before American casualties mounted.
But that is not the same thing as saying the United States was dragged, kicking and screaming, into a war it never intended to fight.
There is a difference between timing and intent.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1923-did-israel-drag-us-into-war-in-iran?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show on DailyWire+</a></h3>
The administration’s position, whether you agree with it or not, is coherent. Iran’s missile and drone capabilities were advancing rapidly. Secretary Rubio has argued that within a year or so, Iran could cross a “threshold of immunity” — meaning it would have so many short-range missiles and drones that it could hold the region hostage.
That is the case they are making.
You can argue that intelligence is flawed. You can argue that the risk calculus is wrong. You can argue that the costs will outweigh the benefits. But you cannot say this was a surprise.
If you voted for this administration, and you were not aware that it took a hard line on Iran, that it supported Israel’s right to strike, and that it believed in overwhelming force when force is used — then you were not paying attention. That’s on you.
That is not an insult; it is an observation.
The Trump foreign policy doctrine has never been isolationist. It has never been “America hides under the covers.” It has been “America First,” which means pursuing American interests pragmatically and forcefully when necessary.
Reasonable minds can differ on whether this particular strike was wise, especially when people have different levels of information about whether or not the strike is a good idea. But in terms of the grand strategy, I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s much room for disagreement.
The administration did not flip overnight; they campaigned on confronting Iran. They defended preemptive action in principle. They promised to “punch hard” if they had to. And then they did exactly that.
You can call it reckless. You can call it bold. You can call it dangerous.
But you cannot call it hidden.

Senate Briefing As Congress Unlikely To Limit Trump On Iran War For Now

No One Was Deceived: The Iran Strike Was Telegraphed For Months

Michael Knowles

Middle East

Opinion

Vice President JD Vance said Monday that the U.S. military has “much greater capacity” to destroy Iran&#8217;s nuclear program if necessary. 
Speaking with Fox News host Jesse Watters, Vance said that President Donald Trump would take every necessary action to ensure that Iran could not get a nuclear weapon. He said that the operation launched in June 2025 to take out multiple Iranian nuclear facilities damaged its ability to build nuclear weapons in the short term, but that the president wanted to block Iran&#8217;s capability for the long term. 
“We have a lot of capacity here,” Vance said. “Obviously, I&#8217;m not going to reveal classified information here on air, but the President of the United States knows what we&#8217;re able to do. He knows that we have much greater capacity to inflict damage on the Iranian nuclear program.”
“So I think the president has made it very clear that the United States has a lot of optionality here,” Vance added. 
Trump has estimated the operation could last four to five weeks, but has said it could continue longer to permanently eliminate Iran’s capacity to have a nuclear weapon. 
“We could go for a little bit longer, we could go for a lot longer, but I think the president just wants to make it clear to the Iranians and to the world that he is not going to rest until he accomplishes that all-important objective of ensuring that Iran can&#8217;t have a nuclear weapon,” he said. 
Vance, a former Marine who fought in Iraq, has been critical of previous American interventions in the Middle East. Watters asked whether the conflict with Iran could turn into another Iraq or Afghanistan. 
“There&#8217;s just no way that Donald Trump is gonna allow this country to get into a multi-year conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective.  What is different about President Trump, and it&#8217;s frankly different about both Republicans and Democrats of the past, is that he&#8217;s not going to let this country go to war unless there&#8217;s a clearly defined objective,” Vance said. “He&#8217;s defined that objective as Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and has to commit long-term to never trying to rebuild the nuclear capability.”

Vice President Vance Visits Machining Facility In Plover, Wisconsin

Vance: U.S. Has ‘Much Greater Capacity’ To Take Out Iran Nuclear Program

Global Politics

Jesse Watters

Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that during Tuesday evening&#8217;s State of the Union address, he had only one thought running through his head the entire time: &#8220;Don&#8217;t make a stupid face for two hours.&#8221;
Vance, who sat directly behind President Donald Trump with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) during Trump&#8217;s record-setting speech, knew that he was going to be on camera the whole time the president was speaking, and was absolutely set on not making a fool of himself.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Vance: I have one thought in my head the whole time which is don&#8217;t make a stupid face for two hours, which is hard for me. <a href="https://t.co/zqkUWPZyXo">pic.twitter.com/zqkUWPZyXo</a>
— Acyn (@Acyn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/2027078078241861707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The vice president revealed his &#8220;inner monologue&#8221; while speaking in Wisconsin on Thursday, saying that when congressional Democrats began saying and doing things in an attempt to disrupt Trump&#8217;s speech, he was worried that he might struggle with keeping a straight face.
Vance began by explaining that as he watched the events of the evening unfold — and as Democrats in the chamber shouted things at the president and one was even escorted out — he thought to himself what President Trump eventually said out loud: &#8220;These people are crazy!&#8221;
In that context, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DVOzVPIgSUy/">he added</a>, &#8220;I have the best seat in the house in many ways. I&#8217;m sitting right next to the Speaker of the House, I&#8217;m sitting right behind the President of the United States, and I&#8217;ve got one internal monologue going on, one thought in my head the whole time, which is, &#8216;Don&#8217;t make a stupid face for two hours,&#8217; which is hard for me.&#8221;
&#8220;When you&#8217;re on TV for two hours, and the Democrats are doing crazy things — so I&#8217;ll give you a little lay of the land,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;So to the left, my left, is all of the Republicans, okay, because I&#8217;m sitting right behind the president. And to my right is some Republicans but mostly the Democrats. So I see the reaction of all the Congressional Democrats, and it&#8217;s one of the most amazing things I&#8217;ve ever seen &#8230; they&#8217;re just scowling. They cannot clap their hands for a six-year-old who survived an attack from an illegal alien. What is that? What kind of a person can&#8217;t stand up and cheer for an innocent young girl who&#8217;s doing well and showing the entire country strength and resilience?&#8221;

Vice President JD Vance Speaks In Allentown, Pennsylvania

What Was Going Through JD Vance’s Mind When Dems Lost It At SOTU

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