Vice President J.D. Vance used a single-digit gesture to show his displeasure during a Republican Party dinner in Lima, Ohio on Tuesday.
Vance first backed Trump’s assessment of the US military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying, “Not only did we destroy the Iranian nuclear program, we did it with zero American casualties.”
His comments came after a leaked intelligence document claimed that initial assessments indicated that Iran’s nuclear program had been set back by mere months. Experts have since disputed that claim and questions have been raised about the veracity of the intel report.
Vance also explained something he had earlier called a “new foreign policy doctrine” on X.
“We are seeing a foreign policy doctrine develop that will change the country (and the world) for the better,” he’d written earlier on the social media platform.
We are seeing a foreign policy doctrine develop that will change the country (and the world) for the better: 1) clearly define an American interest; 2) negotiate aggressively to achieve that interest; 3) use overwhelming force if necessary. pic.twitter.com/zQQzdJlzus
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 24, 2025
“What I call the Trump Doctrine is quite simple: Number one, you articulate a clear American interest and that’s, in this case, that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Vance explained during the dinner. “Number two, you try to aggressively diplomatically solve that problem. And number three, when you can’t solve it diplomatically, you use overwhelming military power to solve it and then you get the hell out of there before it ever becomes a protracted conflict.”
Throughout Vance’s speech, the Republican dinner attendees cheered him on, but outside a pack of about three dozen protestors were raising signs and chants, telling Vance he was not welcome. One sign reportedly read “Ohio does not claim you.” A chant meant to sound like the one used for Vance’s alma mater, Ohio State University, was hurled at him by protestors yelling “O-H, I-O, JD Vance has got to go.”
During his speech, Vance said he was advised to cancel the appearance in Ohio due to heightened risk after the strikes against Iran.
“Why the hell would we cancel a trip to Lima, Ohio?” Vance asked.
Vance also addressed “pink- haired people,” apparently referring to liberal opposers of the Trump administration.
“I know it is not always easy to be a political candidate, trust me. In Washington DC, they have this thing, I think it means we are number one in Washington D.C. I choose to take that as that symbol in Washington.” he said. “But, all the pink- haired people throw up this sign and I think that means we are number one, right?”
Vance used the visual F-bomb hours after Trump, amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, told reporters at the White House, “We basically have 2 countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f**k they are doing.”
Watch Vance’s entire speech below:
MEDIA CLAIM: US strikes only set Iran’s nuclear program back months, expert responds
