Trump removes Vance from Iran policy, shifts focus to domestic politics

US President Donald Trump has instructed Vice President JD Vance to focus on domestic politics, saying: “We don’t need a deal with Iran.”

After Vance concluded that the Iran war led to the Republicans’ surprising midterm defeat, Trump refocused his second-in-command and ordered him to go after Democratic administrations, which the president described as “CORRUPT AND EVIL”.

Oil prices rose and stocks fell as Trump’s post brought renewed uncertainty to a market that had been acting as though the Iran war was nearly over.

“We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days are long gone,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said he wanted Vance to focus “his total and complete attention” on alleged “corruption and crime” in Democratic-run cities and states, citing Minnesota, California and Illinois.

Vance had taken over as chair of the Fraud Elimination Task Force, which Trump established by executive order earlier this year.

According to Axios reporter Barak Ravid, Vance has recently been playing an active role in an effort to secure a new ceasefire with Iran and restart nuclear negotiations.

Ravid reported that Vance had emerged as a sceptical voice on the war within Trump’s inner circle and had led US negotiating delegations after the conflict began.

Vance offered a surprisingly candid assessment of the heavy midterm defeat, writing in a post on X last week: “The reason we lost is the war.”

Vance continued:

“If you want to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, go ahead. Argue that it was a worthy price to pay. Agree or disagree, at least that is an honest stance. But everyone knows why we lost.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his G7 counterparts in Paris on Tuesday. During the meeting, Rubio said Trump had considered restarting the war or making a deal, but decided instead to “strangle the Iranian regime”.

Rubio hinted he was sceptical about diplomatic progress, and Trump’s post suggests that door is closed for now.