On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump celebrated his newly minted Vice President JD Vance, a former Marine, with members of the Armed Forces at the Commander in Chief ball.
‘They used to say bad things about [Vance]. Now, all of a sudden, he’s very well respected,’ Trump commented.
Both Trump and Vance had been ridiculed as ‘weird’ by Democrats during the campaign, but now they were grinning on stage wearing tuxedos and wielding sabers to cut into a massive cake. Their wives Usha and Melania stood and watched and warfighters in the audience roared with approval.
The pair saluted the crowd with their swords as President Trump did the Trump dance and Vance used his arms to spell out the letters Y-M-C-A to his running mate’s theme song.
For Trump and Vance it was a crowning moment of their political journey, but it also marked the beginning of a unique relationship between the president and vice president as they take office.
Throughout the inauguration ceremonies, Trump was spotted leaning over to speak quietly to Vance, sharing his observations and thoughts and even prompting the vice president to grin and burst into laughter.
The following morning while attending the Inaugural prayers service at the National Cathedral, Trump leaned over to whisper to Vance as the interfaith service continued past an hour.
People familiar with the Trump/Vance dynamic say their relationship was immediately kindled with a common sense of humor.
US President Donald Trump (L) and Vice President JD Vance hold swords on stage during the Commander-in-Chief Ball
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance cut a cake with sabres at the Commander in Chief Ball,
Vance, who was raised by his grandmother ‘Mamaw,’ a woman who he admitted ‘loved the f-word’ and also had a blunt blue-collar sense of humor.
As a former Marine, Vance also spent years with warfighters in the corps with an uncensored view on the world complete with gallows humor.
Trump and Vance already don’t mind using coarse language or getting aggressive with the press. But it’s only a small window into their uncensored observations behind the scenes.
The pair immediately hit it off.
‘We just had an automatic chemistry,’ Trump revealed in an interview with Fox News during the campaign.
ice President-elect JD Vance and President-elect Donald Trump arrive at the 60th inaugural ceremony
Vice President JD Vance laughs as President Donald Trump delivers remarks on Inauguration Day
Vice President JD Vance, left, President Donald Trump, right, and Vance’s son Vivek attend at an indoor Presidential Inauguration
After the inaugural festivities, the pair wasted no time getting to work as the president signed executive orders at a furious pace.
Historically, Vice Presidents try to make sure they are physically present in every room, to demonstrate their bond with the president and their proximity to power.
Vice President Joe Biden famously demanded that he be the last person in the room when President Barack Obama made a decision and he promised Kamala Harris that she would get the same privilege.
Harris began her vice presidency constantly standing beside or behind Biden during many of his public events, but eventually grew annoyed after repeatedly appearing on the sidelines without getting the opportunity to speak.
Vice President Mike Pence frequently hovered over Trump during his first term, using every occasion to squeeze into the room and in meetings, and frequently stood up to introduce the president and praise him for his accomplishments.
US Vice President JD Vance (L) speaks as US President Donald Trump listens during a press conference
JD Vance enters the Oval Office for the first time
Vance, however, chooses his moments.
He appeared in the press briefing room with the president after the mid-air collision of a helicopter and a passenger plane near Washington, D.C., and delivered remarks to emphasize the seriousness of the tragedy.
When the president signed the Laken Riley Act at the White House, however, Vance remained quietly seated on the sidelines.
He did not give a separate speech and was not there pressing to get into the signing ceremony photos with the president and the Riley family, who lost their daughter at the hands of a illegal immigrant.
While Trump signed his first flurry of Executive Orders in the Oval Office on his first day as president, Vance was not beside him to emphasize his proximity to power.
He waited until Trump’s second day in the White House to enter the Oval Office for a meeting with members of Congress, the first time he had ever visited the historic space.
The vice president already has a full list of duties as Trump launches his second term at a frenetic pace.
He still has work in the Senate, even though he resigned his seat in early January.
Vance is still making treks to Capitol Hill, and spending time on the phone trying to coax his one-time Republican colleagues to back Trump’s unconventional cabinet nominees.
His efforts are not in vain.
Several Senate Republicans had widespread apprehension about the idea of Pete Hegseth as the head of the Pentagon.
Vance was there to guide Hegseth and help assuage the concerns of his colleagues. And he cast the tie-breaking vote to secure his confirmation.
Trump’s support and the pressure from his supporters outside the administration ultimately sidelined many Republican concerns.
United States Vice President JD Vance, left, shakes hands with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth,
Vice President JD Vance with Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va. in Virginia
The last minute drama only increased after Sen. Mitch McConnell, recently dethroned from his position as Senate leader, voted against Hegseth’s nomination.
Vance had to rush over to Capitol Hill to break the tie.
The vice president made light of the theatrics on social media with a post on X.
‘I thought I was done voting in the Senate,’ he wrote on social media punctuated with a laughing-while-crying emoji.
Hegseth was grateful, thanking Vance for the support throughout the process.
‘It’s not the first time the headline reads, “Junior enlisted marine bails out junior army officer,”’ Hegseth joked after Vance swore him in his new position.
Now Vance is making the rounds to cajole Republican senators to keep going.
The job hasn’t gotten any easier, as the administration works to push through some of the more maverick outsider figures to his cabinet.
Vance, age 40, is now urging seasoned senators to give cabinet appointees his age a chance. Trump’s choice for FBI director Kash Patel, 44, and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, 43, Trump’s choice for Director of National Intelligence are of a similar age, background, and political disposition in regards to the federal government and the ‘deep state.’
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., age 71, is the wildcard giving Republicans the biggest pause, as the former Democrat seeks to win over the hearts of the Republican-led Senate.
But not all of Vance’s work so far is clerical. The vice president made a separate trip to a community in rural Virginia to highlight their struggles to rebuild from Hurricane Helene.
On Monday, he traveled with his wife Usha to East Palestine, Ohio to mark the anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train crash and the government cleanup of the hazardous waste that followed.
The vice president and his team have to carefully choose the time and place for any trips outside Washington, DC, however, as he could be called up any moment to break a tie in the confirmation votes.
Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance visit the site of a 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance waves as he arrives on Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews,
JD Vance appears on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan
Vance has also used his weekends to defend the administration’s policies on the Sunday shows.
His first appearance on the CBS show ‘Face the Nation’ with Margaret Brennan earned him rave reviews from Trump’s supporters, spawning memes and highlight clips as he dismissed Brennan’s questions.
‘I don’t really care, Margaret,’ Vance said when Brennan insisted that a terror suspect from Afghanistan in the United States had been vetted by the previous administration.
At another moment, he dismissed Brennan’s assertion that the United States was ‘founded by immigrants,’ by asserting that it was not a reason to have the ‘the dumbest immigration policy in the world.’
Vance’s appearance was an early victory for the administration, especially for the president who frequently dismisses the show as ‘Deface the Nation.’
‘I say “Deface” – it’s “Face the Nation” a well-known show,’ Trumptold podcaster Andrew Schultz in October. ’They hate me. … They have the woman, Brennan, she’s on “Deface the Nation.”
Both Trump and Vance are relative rookies in politics.
Trump praises Vance for his rapid rise in the Republican Party only to have Vance remind Trump he rose to power quicker than any other Republican president.
They both share a distain for the elites after years of watching the creatures of Washington and New York try to flatter them in person and stab them in the back behind the scenes.
From left, first lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Second Lady Usha Vance
Trump also understands the importance of family.
When he called to ask Vance if he would run with him on the presidential ticket, he paused to chat with his son Vivek and asked for his approval.
Vance revealed during the campaign that Trump also spoke to his wife Usha to get her perspective on the journey they were going to take with their young family.
‘The only one smarter than him was his wife,’ Trump said after the Inauguration giving a shoutout to Usha. ‘I would have chosen her, but somehow the line of succession didn’t work that way, right? … This is a great, beautiful couple and an unbelievable career.’
Trump’s wife Melania and Usha appear to have bonded over their husbands political success while loathing the world of politics and the media.
Both have grown thicker skin in reaction to the political attacks, and have learned to ignore the media.
Usha said she intentionally avoids reading news coverage of her husband.
‘I just think he deserves to hear someone in his life who hears it straight from him and doesn’t just hear from what people are saying all the time,’ she said in a rare interview with Fox News. ‘And that really helps.’
