EXCLUSIVE: Vance gives MAJOR update on US-Iran talks in Switzerland

[0:00] And with that, we'd like to bring in Vice President J.D. Vance. [0:04] Mr. Vice President, thank you for being here. [0:06] I want to start with where the peace deal stands. [0:09] We are reportedly told that Wyckoff and Kushner are expected to be in Switzerland today. [0:14] You were at one point expected to possibly be there. [0:17] Do you have plans? Will you go? [0:21] Yeah, so we'll plan the talks when the principles from the Iranian government, [0:25] also the Qatari and the Pakistani government arrive. [0:28] That may happen as soon as tomorrow, but these things are always a little bit in flux. [0:31] Jared and Steve have been on the ground now for a few hours, [0:34] dealing with some of the technical elements of this negotiation. [0:38] As you guys know, one of the things the president has set us out to do [0:40] as a high priority is to open the Straits. That's now happened. [0:44] We actually got 16 million barrels of oil out of the Straits of Hormuz yesterday. [0:48] That is a record going back to even before the conflict started. [0:51] So you're seeing those ships move. [0:53] The second thing the president has asked us to do, of course, [0:55] is to get the enriched stockpile of uranium [0:58] to ensure that we make it effectively impossible [1:01] for the Iranians to rebuild their nuclear program, [1:04] even over a very long period of time. [1:06] The program is destroyed, [1:08] but we're, of course, trying to take us away [1:10] as many of the cards where they may try to rebuild it [1:13] if they don't behave under this agreement. [1:15] So that's the first part of the negotiation. [1:17] My understanding, talking to Jared and Steve this morning, [1:19] is things are going well. [1:20] But, of course, we're going to verify all of this. [1:22] And that's the thing that, you know, [1:24] a lot of the criticisms of the deal [1:27] have really underappreciated, [1:28] is that the United States has all the cards. [1:31] The Straits are now open. [1:32] The Iranian military is now destroyed. [1:34] The Iranians have committed to, of course, [1:37] destroying that stockpile of enriched material. [1:40] But we have a lot of economic pressure applied to the Iranians [1:43] that we would be willing to relieve [1:45] if they do what we need them to do. [1:47] If they don't do that, of course, [1:49] there's no skin off our back. [1:50] They're still in a much weakened position. [1:52] So do you have any immediate plans [1:54] to join Jared and Steve? [1:56] Yeah, I expect that I will leave sometime [2:01] the next couple of days. [2:02] But, you know, it's always a delicate coordination dance [2:05] and the diplomatic protocols. [2:06] I got to be honest with you, [2:07] I don't really understand these things. [2:09] I've never been particularly into diplomatic protocols. [2:12] My attitude is, let's get on the ground [2:14] and actually fix these problems. [2:15] But they want to do a delicate dance. [2:17] The Qataris and the Pakistanis [2:20] want to make sure that we do this in the right way. [2:21] So I'm trying to be respectful. [2:24] Given my position of the last year and a half, [2:26] I have to care about diplomatic protocols all of a sudden. [2:29] Love it. [2:30] Yeah, absolutely. [2:32] Listen, last night I had Victor Davis Hanson on, [2:34] the great Victor Davis Hanson, [2:36] on my, I was, I was guest hosting for Jesse Watters Prime Time. [2:39] And he laid out in an op-ed and we discussed it on the show, [2:42] a lot of the misconceptions about the deal, [2:46] the memorandum of understanding and this potential peace deal with Iran. [2:50] I thought he did a really good job doing that. [2:52] I, I agree that there are misconceptions, [2:54] but is it possible, Mr. Vice President, [2:56] that there's not just misconceptions about the deal, [2:59] but that there are different goals between the partners. [3:02] In other words, is Israel's goal regime change at all costs [3:07] and America's goal is to make sure they don't have nukes [3:12] and, and open the Straits of Hormuz. [3:14] And is that where some of the problem is? [3:17] And also, are you confident that you can maintain this ceasefire [3:22] enough to get you to Switzerland and get this deal signed? [3:28] So first of all, Rachel, [3:28] I'm very confident we can maintain the ceasefire. [3:31] And I, I don't know if there's a divergence of goals [3:33] or sometimes just a divergence of how to accomplish those goals. [3:36] I obviously don't want to speak for the Israeli government. [3:38] They've been a good partner in a lot of ways, [3:40] but what the president of the United States has said, [3:42] you know, counter to some of the elements within their government [3:46] is that we're going to give this negotiation a chance. [3:49] We're going to go after that enriched stockpile of uranium. [3:52] We're going to try to reset the situation that we have [3:55] so that the Iranians don't just have a destroyed nuclear program now, [3:59] but so that we can say with some confidence, [4:01] a combination of inspections and verification, [4:04] that they're never going to be able to rebuild that program. [4:06] The president, Rachel, comes back to this, as you know, [4:09] because you know him so well, constantly. [4:11] Iran's not going to have a nuclear weapon [4:13] for the next two and a half years. [4:14] He's thinking about this for my kid's sake, [4:17] for our grandkids' sake, to ensure that you never have the, [4:20] this regime with the ability to develop a nuclear weapon. [4:24] And then at the same time, [4:25] the president is also offering an outstretched hand, [4:27] saying that if they change their behavior fundamentally, [4:30] then the United States could have a different relationship [4:32] with that country. [4:33] So it really is a two-step process. [4:36] There's a fork in the road here. [4:37] The United States wins either way, [4:39] but I think that what ultimately happens from here [4:42] is very much up to the Iranians. [4:43] Do they want to behave better? [4:45] If so, great. [4:46] If they don't want to behave better, [4:47] the president of the United States [4:48] still has a whole lot of options from here. [4:50] So, Mr. Vice President, I certainly understand that part, [4:53] but I do want to ask you about some of the criticism [4:56] you're getting to include from the Senate Armed Services [4:58] Committee Chairman Roger Wicker and others, Republicans, [5:02] that have said they're concerned that the gains [5:05] that the president is able to get right now [5:08] in diminishing Iran's capabilities [5:11] and setting back their nuclear program, [5:13] that even if they began to perform, [5:15] as you said, they'll be held to account, [5:17] that to give them something like 300 billion [5:20] in this fund and other ways [5:22] to economically reconstitute their regime, [5:26] that at a later date, [5:27] they would just go right back to doing [5:28] what they've done for 47 years. [5:30] Your reaction? [5:33] So my reaction, first of all, I like Roger. [5:35] He's a friend of mine, [5:36] but I think that he's wrong on this, [5:38] because he actually misstates the sequencing [5:41] of what the MOU says. [5:43] What the MOU says is that if the Iranians behave [5:47] over a long period of time, [5:49] they could get some of the benefits of this bargain. [5:52] And so, you know, what the president said is, [5:53] for example, let's say that one of Iran's regional neighbors, [5:57] not a single penny of this money [5:59] is coming from the United States, [6:00] but let's say down the road that one of Iran's regional neighbors [6:03] wanted to build a power plant. [6:05] Of course, they would need some sanctions changes [6:07] from the United States in order to do that. [6:09] Well, if Iran has changed their behavior, [6:11] why wouldn't we want greater economic integration [6:14] between them and their neighbors? [6:15] And if they haven't changed their neighbor, [6:17] of course, we're not going to permit or encourage that. [6:20] And so I think that Roger in some ways has made the mistake [6:23] of some of the Democrats who have criticized this, [6:26] which is that they assume that Iran gets the benefits [6:29] without changing their behavior. [6:31] That's not in the text of the agreement. [6:33] That's not in the substance of any of the conversations [6:35] that we've had. [6:36] And I would say with all due respect to Senator Wicker, [6:39] the president of the United States has shown [6:41] that he's very willing to be tough [6:43] in order to accomplish America's security objectives. [6:46] He's not going to lose in this negotiation [6:49] what we gained over the last year and a half [6:51] of our engagement with Iran. [6:53] He is going to ensure that we maximize benefits [6:56] for the American people. [6:57] But he's also saying we don't want to have a situation [7:00] where if the Iranians are willing to change their behavior, [7:03] we say no. [7:04] Isn't the change of behavior exactly what we want? [7:07] And if they do that, of course, [7:09] we're going to change our relationship with them. [7:11] Well, recognizing that this is obviously [7:12] an ongoing negotiation, [7:14] and we're still in sort of the delicate diplomatic dance. [7:17] We haven't even really gotten to the diplomatic dance part. [7:20] I do want to ask you a question about the current state. [7:24] Wall Street Journal reporting that the remnants [7:28] of the Iranian Navy are turning, [7:32] actually turning ships back in the Strait of Hormuz. [7:35] Is that, based on your understanding [7:38] of the memo of understanding, [7:40] is that a violation of the memo of understanding? [7:43] If not, is that a problem? [7:45] And if it is, what should be the response [7:48] at this point in the negotiations [7:51] if they are violating it? [7:55] So I'm skeptical of that reporting, [7:57] or at least of some of the conclusions [7:59] that could be drawn from it. [8:00] But let me try to explain this, [8:01] because it's actually quite important. [8:03] So right now, the Straits of Hormuz, [8:05] a 20-mile waterway that is a choke point [8:08] for all this oil and gas. [8:10] We know those Straits have a lot of mines in them. [8:13] Like I said just now, we got 16 million barrels [8:16] out of the Strait of Hormuz in just the last 24 hours. [8:20] That is basically to where it was [8:22] before the war even started. [8:24] And so that suggests that the Straits really are open. [8:28] Now, what I would believe is that if a ship [8:31] was going near a minefield, [8:33] either our Navy or somebody else's Navy, [8:36] there are a lot of countries other than Iran [8:37] who are in the region, might say no, [8:39] don't go there because there are mines there. [8:41] And what the MOU contemplates is a 30-day period [8:45] where we demine the Straits, [8:47] where we open up the traffic there. [8:49] But no, we're not seeing any evidence [8:51] that the Iranians are still closing down [8:53] the Strait of Hormuz. [8:54] There, it is going to take some time [8:55] to clear those mines though. [8:57] You know, I know you're a Christian man, JD. [9:00] And in the process of this conflict, [9:03] we know that things opened up in Lebanon, [9:05] a conflict opened up in Lebanon between Israel [9:09] and the terrorists in Hezbollah. [9:10] And so many Christians have been displaced, [9:14] tens of thousands of them. [9:16] And thousands have lost their lives as well. [9:19] Do you have a message to the Christians in Lebanon? [9:24] Well, I would just say that to those Christians in Lebanon, [9:27] keep your faith in Jesus Christ and know that you have a lot of good friends [9:30] in the United States government who are trying to promote peace in the region. [9:34] You know, the fundamental problem for those Christians [9:37] or the reason that those Christians face such violence [9:40] is because you have Hezbollah, a terrorist organization [9:42] that has effectively taken up shop in Lebanon. [9:46] Sometimes they're firing with the Israelis. [9:48] Of course, that means the Israelis are going to respond in self-defense. [9:51] And so there's this constant slow burn of conflict. [9:54] It's actually gotten a lot better, Rachel, [9:56] over the last couple of weeks, [9:58] thanks to the work of the president, of Secretary Rubio, [10:01] and of a whole lot of others in the administration. [10:04] But sometimes peace takes a little bit of time to really take root. [10:08] And that's what we're working towards. [10:10] And that's really what we're working towards in the entire region [10:12] is just to change the way that we've done business. [10:15] It's such a beautiful region of the world. [10:17] There are so many Christians, Jews, Muslims who live there. [10:20] Most of them are, of course, peaceful people. [10:22] There's great economic potential. [10:24] If you talk to our friends in Israel and the Gulf Coast, [10:29] what they're saying is that if this deal really takes root, [10:33] this could transform the Middle East in a positive direction. [10:37] Obviously, we have skeptics of the deal, [10:39] but I think we've got to give more voice also [10:41] to the people who think that Donald Trump [10:43] is on the verge of accomplishing something [10:44] that has never been accomplished before. [10:47] Yeah. [10:47] Well, I commend you for you and the president working towards peace. [10:51] It's certainly commendable, and it's a wonderful thing. [10:55] So thank you for that. [10:56] Mr. Vice President, can I change gears a little bit and talk politics? [10:59] Because we have been speaking this morning [11:00] about the rise of socialism. [11:02] We're seeing, obviously, there in Washington, D.C., [11:05] we now have expected to be Mayor Janice Lewis-George, [11:09] who is a socialist. [11:10] You've got Graham Plattner running in Maine. [11:12] But then here in New York, we had Mayor Momdani, [11:15] along with Bernie Sanders campaigning with a socialist candidate, [11:20] Darlisa Chevalier, that is advocating for abolishing not only ICE, [11:26] but also prisons. [11:28] What do you make of the rise of socialism? [11:32] Well, I'd say two things. [11:33] First of all, my hope, my genuine hope, [11:35] was that the lesson the Democrats learned from the 2024 election [11:39] is maybe we should stop being so crazy. [11:42] And unfortunately, the lesson that Democrats [11:45] seem to have learned from the 2024 election [11:47] is to lean into the most radical fringes of their party. [11:51] I mean, you guys know this. [11:52] I was raised by patriotic, Christian, blue-collar Democrats [11:57] who loved this country, but they weren't Republicans. [12:01] But I feel unfortunately that those patriotic blue-collar Democrats, [12:04] they increasingly don't have a place in that party anymore, [12:08] at least among the elected senior leadership ranks. [12:11] The other thing I'll say about this is I always find it interesting. [12:14] When socialists tell me that they really stand up for working people [12:18] and they want to protect working people, [12:20] but they want to abolish ICE. [12:22] And so what does that mean? [12:24] That means a flood of low-wage immigrants coming into this country [12:28] competing for wages against the working people, [12:31] black, white, and brown of the United States of America. [12:34] You do not care about working people [12:37] if you refuse to enforce the border. [12:39] Stop pretending that you do. [12:41] Yeah, they love to talk about class [12:42] and they love to talk about working class. [12:44] Of course, people who actually know people who work, [12:46] don't call them the working class. [12:48] They call them, as you just did, workers, [12:51] but they've never met a worker [12:52] if they think that their platform is supported by them. [12:59] Check out the Fox News latest on YouTube [13:01] and catch full shows streaming now on Fox 1.