The MAGA-in-Crisis Mirage

As Donald Trump was convening an emergency meeting of his National Security Council to discuss the increasingly urgent developments in the Middle East, Vice President JD Vance was meeting with Republicans on Capitol Hill. When he wasn’t discussing the president’s legislative package in the Senate, he was doing crisis communications work on social media.

The vice president’s anguished and inordinately diplomatic communiqué read like a love letter to two feuding parents. He laid out Trump’s rationale for supporting the Israeli mission against Iran’s nuclear facilities, and he reminded the Americans who need reminding of the dozens of times the president has warned that he would take action to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear breakout. “I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue,” Vance explained. “I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.”

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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As Donald Trump was convening an emergency meeting of his National Security Council to discuss the increasingly urgent developments in the Middle East, Vice President JD Vance was meeting with Republicans on Capitol Hill. When he wasn’t discussing the president’s legislative package in the Senate, he was doing crisis communications work on social media.

The vice president’s anguished and inordinately diplomatic communiqué read like a love letter to two feuding parents. He laid out Trump’s rationale for supporting the Israeli mission against Iran’s nuclear facilities, and he reminded the Americans who need reminding of the dozens of times the president has warned that he would take action to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear breakout. “I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue,” Vance explained. “I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.”

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.