Vice President JD Vance offered a message of appreciation to Americans on Sunday as reports emerged that a peace agreement had been reached following months of conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States.
Appearing on Fox News’s The Big Weekend Show, Vance was asked by co-host Tomi Lahren what he wanted to say to Americans who had endured rising fuel prices and economic uncertainty during the conflict.
“Well, I guess my primary message to the American people is ‘thank you,’” Vance said. “Because of your patience, I think that we’ve solved the problem that has plagued this country, again, for well before I was even born, which is a terrorist-supporting Iran that was pursuing a nuclear weapon.”
Vance argued that recent military and diplomatic efforts had fundamentally altered the situation, saying the administration now believes Iran is no longer on a path toward obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“We are now at a place here where we can say with confidence, ‘They’re not going to get a nuclear weapon,’” he said.
The remarks came shortly after President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that an agreement had been reached following what both leaders described as intensive negotiations. While details of the arrangement were still emerging, administration officials portrayed the development as the culmination of a campaign aimed at eliminating Iran’s nuclear ambitions and reducing instability across the Middle East.
Vance painted an optimistic picture of what could follow if the agreement holds.
“And again, if they comply with the broader elements of the deal, this entire region — I mean think about this: for years if you’ve heard about the Middle East as an American, you’ve heard about war, you’ve heard about terrorism, you’ve heard about the constant chaos of the region,” Vance said. “What the president has done is created the real space to transform that region, cooperation between the Gulf Arab allies and the Israelis, and now, hopefully, a new era with the Iranians.”
The administration’s handling of the conflict has generated significant political debate. According to the RealClearPolitics polling average cited at the time, 58.3 percent of respondents disapproved of Trump’s management of the Iran situation. Critics questioned both the military campaign and the broader strategy, while supporters argued that decisive action was necessary to address long-standing concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.
The conflict also had a direct impact on American consumers. According to GasBuddy data, the national average price of gasoline rose from approximately $2.98 per gallon at the beginning of Operation Epic Fury on February 28 to nearly $4.00 per gallon by late June. The increase became one of the most visible domestic consequences of the military operations and the resulting disruptions to regional energy markets.
The administration has consistently maintained that Iran represented a serious nuclear threat. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated in May that Iran possessed enough material for as many as ten nuclear weapons and nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity. Similar concerns were raised earlier by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. However, public evidence supporting those specific assessments has not been released by the administration.
Questions also remain about the decision-making process that led to military action. Reports have indicated that President Trump approved strikes after discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior national security officials. Administration figures, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have argued that military intervention was necessary because an Iranian response to planned Israeli operations could have endangered American personnel in the region.
For Vance, however, the focus on Sunday was not the controversy surrounding the conflict but what he described as its outcome. His message was directed at Americans who absorbed higher fuel costs and months of uncertainty while the administration pursued its objectives.
