JD Vance says Israel ‘not controlling this president of the United States’
US vice president asserts Gaza peace plan proves Washington’s willingness to apply pressure on allies
ISTANBUL
US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday rejected claims that Israel holds sway over US policy, saying President Donald Trump’s administration acts solely in America’s interests.
“They’re not controlling this president of the United States,” Vance said during a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi. “When the president of the United States says ‘America first,’ that means he pursues the interests of Americans first. That is our entire foreign policy.”
He said Washington will continue to work with allies when interests align, but emphasized that the Trump administration is willing to diverge when they do not.
“In this example, the most recent Gaza peace plan that all of us have been working on very hard for the past few weeks, the president could only get that peace deal done by actually being willing to apply leverage to the state of Israel.”
A ceasefire in Gaza was reached earlier this month after Trump unveiled his 20-point plan, which also includes the rebuilding of the Palestinian enclave that Israel destroyed in its two-year-long onslaught.
Vance took questions from students at the event, organized by the conservative youth group. He appeared alongside Erika Kirk, the group’s chief executive and widow of its late founder, Charlie Kirk.
Charlie Kirk, 31, founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed Sept. 10 by a sniper while speaking to students at Utah Valley University. Authorities identified the suspect as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who remains in custody awaiting trial.
The killing prompted nationwide mourning, including a White House-declared National Day of Remembrance.
