Vice President J.D. Vance is accusing The Wall Street Journal of misrepresenting his comments about President Trump’s position on Russia in the ongoing war in Ukraine. In a recent interview with the newspaper, Vance suggested that the U.S. might use sanctions or even military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t agree to a peace deal that guarantees Ukraine’s independence.
The Journal reported that Vance had “pledged to hit Russia with sanctions and potentially military action if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin won’t agree to a peace deal that guarantees Ukraine’s independence.”
The article also quoted Vance as saying, “There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage” the U.S. could use against Putin. “There’s a whole host of things that we could do. But fundamentally, I think the president wants to have a productive negotiation, both with Putin and with Zelensky.”
Vance disagreed with how the article portrayed his remarks. He posted on social media, claiming the Journal had “twisted my words in the way they did for this story” and called it “absurd.” He went on to clarify, “President Trump is the ultimate deal maker and will bring peace to the region by ending the war in Ukraine.” He added, “As we’ve always said, American troops should never be put into harm’s way where it doesn’t advance American interests and security. This war is between Russia and Ukraine.”
In a second post, Vance criticized the Journal for pushing a narrative that often calls for more U.S. military involvement overseas. “The fact that the WSJ twisted my words in the way they did for this story is absurd, but not surprising considering they have spent years pushing for more American sons and daughters in uniform to be unnecessarily deployed overseas,” he wrote.
This dispute comes amid growing tension between the White House, President Trump, and The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper has published several critical editorials about Trump’s policies since he took office.
