Vance Flies to End Trump's War — Then Trump Posts a Rant Taking All the Credit

Vice President JD Vance had barely touched down in Islamabad, Pakistan, when President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday morning to declare the war his administration is still trying to end a sweeping American victory. The post, which made no mention of the ongoing peace talks or of Vance's mission, landed as Iranian and US officials were preparing to sit across from one another for what both sides have described as a critical round of negotiations.

'Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft apparatus is nonexistent, Radar is dead, their Missile and Drone Factories have been largely obliterated,' Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Iran's longtime 'Leaders' are 'no longer with us, praise be to Allah.' The 79-year-old president made no reference to Vance, to special envoy Steve Witkoff, or to the diplomatic effort now unfolding in Pakistan under his vice president's leadership.

A Divided White House, A Delicate Table

The silence on Vance was not incidental. The vice president has staked out a firm position heading into the Islamabad talks — insisting that Iran must be left with no uranium enrichment capacity whatsoever, the material from which nuclear weapons are derived. That stance has put him at odds with Kushner and Witkoff, who have reportedly floated a softer arrangement under which the United States would actually supply Iran with uranium for civilian use.

Iran has its own preferences about who sits at the table. Tehran has said it views past negotiations with Kushner and Witkoff as a bad-faith exercise. A front, in their telling, that was designed to buy time before the US launched its military campaign on 28 February. Iranian officials have since signalled through back channels that they would rather deal solely with Vance, whose long-standing scepticism of US military intervention in the Middle East has earned him a degree of credibility with the regime.

The Strait, the Pump, and the Spin

Trump's post also turned to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed to international shipping after the conflict began, sending global oil prices sharply higher. 'We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favour to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others,' he wrote, casting the effort as an act of generosity rather than economic urgency.

Fuel data tells a more pressing story. The US national average petrol price reached $4.16 (£3.09) per gallon by 10 April 2026 — March recorded the steepest single-month price increase since 1967 — a surge directly tied to the disruption of oil flows through the Strait. Trump has repeatedly urged NATO allies to assist in reopening the waterway, with little success; after allies refused his appeals, he raised the possibility of withdrawing the United States from the alliance entirely.

Earlier this month, Trump had posted a stark warning on Truth Social, writing that 'a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,' before later walking back the threat as a ceasefire arrangement took shape. Saturday's post struck a markedly different tone — triumphal rather than threatening, and notably silent on the diplomacy still underway.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the relationship between Saturday's post and the Islamabad talks. Vance's negotiations with Iranian officials are expected to continue into the coming week. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to international commercial shipping.