Explosive NY Times Report Reveals Vance Warned Iran War Would Be a 'Disaster' As Trump Dismissed Risks [View all]

Source: MEDIAite

Apr 7th, 2026, 3:11 pm


Vice President JD Vance worried that launching a regime-change war against Iran could be a “disaster” and was the only administration official to forcefully express his skepticism in the weeks leading up to Operation Epic Fury, according to an explosive new report from The New York Times on Tuesday.

“[Vance] was for no strikes at all. But knowing that Mr. Trump was likely to intervene in some fashion, he tried to steer toward more limited action,” according to The Times. “Later, when it seemed certain that the president was set on a large-scale campaign, Mr. Vance argued that he should do so with overwhelming force, in the hope of achieving his objectives quickly.”

The 4,500-word deep dive from reporters Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman looked at the deliberations and meetings that led to President Donald Trump launching the war on Feb. 28, the same day joint U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Vance warned Trump that a war against Iran could cause “regional chaos” and “untold numbers of casualties,” according to the report. The vice president also worried it would rip apart Trump’s political coalition and be viewed as a “betrayal” by many MAGA voters.

“Mr. Vance raised other concerns, too. As vice president, he was aware of the scope of America’s munitions problem,” Haberman and Swan wrote. “A war against a regime with enormous will for survival could leave the United States in a far worse position to fight conflicts for some years.” The report comes as Trump has given Iran an 8:00 p.m. deadline on Tuesday to open the Strait of Hormuz or have its power plants and bridges destroyed.

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/politics/explosive-ny-times-report-reveals-vance-warned-iran-war-would-be-a-disaster-as-trump-dismissed-risks/