Vice President JD Vance’s White House portfolio has come into sharper focus this week, revealing how and where the White House is most confident deploying him at the outset of President Donald Trump’s second term.
TikTok: The latest development is that Trump has tapped Vance, along with national security adviser Michael Waltz, to oversee a deal to sell and save TikTok, the Chinese social media company facing a ban in the U.S., two people familiar with the arrangement told NBC News.
Capitol Hill: Vance has also emerged as Trump’s eyes, ears and voice in the Senate, where he served for two years. Leveraging his existing relationships with fellow Republicans in the chamber, he helped swing two key committee votes in the fights over Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s nominees for health and human services secretary and director of national intelligence, respectively.
Ohio: Vance started the week in his native Ohio, where, on the second anniversary of the toxic East Palestine train derailment, he committed the administration to completing cleanup efforts and defended Trump’s call for tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China.
DOGE: And he ended it by calling for the rehiring of a Department of Government Efficiency staffer who resigned after The Wall Street Journal surfaced racist remarks he had made online. (Elon Musk later said he would bring back the staffer.)
Foreign policy: Up next week: the first overseas trip of Vance’s vice presidency, with an itinerary that includes an artificial intelligence summit in Paris and the Munich Security Conference. It will give him an opportunity to build his foreign policy credentials ahead of his own anticipated presidential run in 2028.
Vice presidencies can be complicated to navigate. Dan Quayle is remembered more for his blunders. Al Gore struggled to emerge from Bill Clinton’s shadow. More recently, Kamala Harris received several high-profile but tricky assignments, including immigration and abortion.
But at least at this early stage, Vance seems to have found his footing. He told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo this week that he sees himself as “an all-around player.” One White House official, asked to grade Vance’s performance so far, gave him an “A.”
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