At the end of the first week of the 60-day ceasefire enacted by the memorandum of understanding, the Trump administration has gained some wins and taken some losses while continuing to negotiate with the Iranian delegation. Both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio play important, though different, roles in the process.
President Donald Trump initially tapped Vance to lead the American envoy to Switzerland, even joking on June 17 that “this way, if it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD. You better be careful, JD.”
For the first few days of the peace talks, Vance headed the American diplomats while hoping to put on an air of composure and patience that would be a breath of fresh air when compared to Trump’s bombastic personality and snap decisions. This moment, briefly, was meant to define the future of Vance’s career, including his prospects of a successful 2028 presidential run.
Quickly, though, the diplomacy team realized that Vance was tailored to be the media-tamer and chief negotiator with the Iranians, but Rubio was the man to actually secure the backing behind many of the promises secured by the deal.
In his last press conference at Lake Lucerne on Monday, Vance touted the American diplomatic team’s success in setting up a pathway for continued talks in the region if fighting breaks out and negotiating for nuclear inspections in Iran.
“The way that I think about it is very simple: we laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal,” Vance said. “The final deal is the house. We set the foundation — we haven’t built the house. But we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.”
Vance’s words are smooth and assuring. He listed out the four points that were agreed upon by the negotiators with concision and political tact. If Trump were talking to the media about the deal reached in the first weekend of talks, he likely would have used at least two to three more expletives — to say the least. Vance earned his keep by playing nice, while firmly drumming up support for the deal.
The one thing Vance is missing is the Middle East support to back up his negotiations.
Most of the peace deal rests on the neighbors of Iran stepping in to reinvest in the country and ensure that the radical Muslim theocracy does not begin imposing tolls at the Strait of Hormuz.
One of Iran’s strongest advantages, the ability to close or impose tolls at the strait, can only be mitigated if Oman, Iran’s southern neighbor, which controls the other side of the strait, enforces the agreement. If Iran and Oman come to an agreement separately to impose tolls at the strait, no international law can stop them. Those two Gulf States have been favorably discussing the topic during this week, according to Reuters.
On top of the issue of tolls at the Strait of Hormuz, one of the largest pills for the diplomatic envoy to sell to the public is the reported $300 billion investment package offered to Iran. Satirical websites such as the Babylon Bee immediately ran headlines like “Iran Wins $300 Billion Cash Prize For Placing Second In War,” showing how difficult it will be to spin the deal as beneficial to Americans.
Vance jumped to the task and began denouncing false reports that the money is coming from taxpayers. Instead, he praised the agreement as a “classic Trump deal” in which the other Gulf States step in to build infrastructure and inroads with the Iranian Islamic government. America won’t pay a dime, Vance said, but all the money would come from the other Islamic countries in the region.
Behind the scenes of this talking point, Rubio has been working quietly and tirelessly to meet with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council over the last week to secure support for it. In a statement Thursday after meeting with Rubio, the GCC “stressed the need to maintain momentum and unity as negotiations proceed toward a more permanent end to hostilities and the shared objective of preventing Iran from ever developing or otherwise acquiring a nuclear weapon.”
Because Oman is a member of the GCC, this statement also stands in for the country’s desire to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and toll-free.
While there is a big difference in the roles that Rubio and Vance play, it is clear that they are both using their strengths and skill sets to secure the best possible deal.
When asked how big the divide is between himself and Vance, Rubio said Thursday that, “When it comes to foreign policy and national security, we have no drama. We have no games. We have a group of people that work very well together and closely to execute on the president’s directives.”
Rubio’s position at the State Department lets him excel at interacting with foreign states, but Vance’s experience as a politician and stand-in for Trump lets him excel at the policy and image of the deal.
“I think JD is able to explain this stuff, not as some betrayal of ‘America First’ like some Republicans are trying to spin it, but as illustrating the reality that there is no ‘MAGA orthodoxy,’” a senior White House official told the Washington Examiner about Vance’s role in the peace talks.
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“Trump isn’t just going to do the same s*** that’s gotten us nowhere in the past,” the official continued. “He’s going to try new stuff because he’s really fighting for America, not to make the political elites talking heads, who think they’re the reason he’s in the White House, by the way, feel puffed up and important and right.”
President Theodore Roosevelt famously coined the saying, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” In the case of the Iran talks, Vance and Rubio fulfill those requirements.