Vance breaks with Trump on Israel as he builds 2028 brand

Vice President JD Vance shifted his midterm campaign strategy to focus on his own policy portfolio—economic nationalism, foreign policy restraint, and public safety—rather than President Donald Trump’s signature issues, as polls showed Trump’s unpopularity hurting Republican candidates, who lost control of Congress on Tuesday. The deliberate change, confirmed by two sources familiar with the strategy, saw Vance bypass Trump’s Iran war and deportation policies in speeches, instead championing issues he could address with authority. On Wednesday, Vance publicly blamed the Iran war for the Republican defeat and called for ending the conflict, reevaluating foreign relations, and overhauling the US-Israel relationship, a stance Trump has not endorsed. Vance, 42, is viewed as a leading potential 2028 presidential contender, though Trump has not endorsed him. His postmortem, which Trump’s eldest son endorsed, elevated him as a post-Trump standard-bearer, but Republicans lost in states where he campaigned, and some strategies he backed may have hurt races.