In an hour-long town hall hosted by CBS News, Vice President JD Vance argued the Trump administration's handling of the economy and Iran strategy will pay dividends in the future.
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handling → host → future
He was also pressed on the Trump administration's controversial immigration tactics, widespread discontent about the cost of living and his own political future during "Things That Matter: A Town Hall With Vice President JD Vance," which aired Saturday evening and was hosted by "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil.
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which → press → Dokoupil
Vance took questions from voters in Michigan, a swing state that helped propel Vance and President Trump to victory in 2024 — and is the host of a tight Senate race that could help determine which party wins control of the upper chamber in next month's midterm elections.
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party → take → elections
Vance says he hasn't decided if he'll run for president
If he decides to run for president in 2028, the vice president is widely viewed as an early frontrunner in the Republican primaries and a possible heir to Mr. Trump's political movement.
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president → say → movement
Mr. Trump joked about a potential contest between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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Trump → joke → State
his "most likely" GOP successor and hasAsked by Dokoupil if there's any chance he won't run, Vance said: "Of course there's a chance."
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Vance → hasaske → Dokoupil
"The way that I think about life, big life decisions — my wife will tell you this — is I'm a procrastinator.
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I → think → this
I hate thinking about it," said Vance, adding that he'll "have to think about it."
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he → hate → it
He also noted that he and his wife, Usha Vance, have four young children, and the second lady "has never loved politics," though "she loves public service."
On economy, Vance says "we're turning the ship around" but it will take time
Several town hall attendees asked Vance about cost-of-living issues.
The topic weighs heavily in the midterms, and has demonstrated it's a liability for Republicans based on CBS News polling.
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it → note → polling
Voter dissatisfaction
and the state of the economy under the Biden administration helped bring Mr. Trump and Vance to power, but indicate that most voters are still unhappy with the economy and hold the Trump administration responsible.
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administration → bring → economy
Sandy Johnson said the family entertainment center she owns is "barely making ends meet," and asked when she can expect changes "so that the normal American has money to spend on small businesses."
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American → say → businesses
The vice president argued it could take some time.
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it → argue → time
"What broke the United States, as much as I might like to criticize Joe Biden, but it was a bipartisan, multi-generational failure to under-invest in American workers, to under-invest in American manufacturing, to ship all of our good jobs overseas," Vance said.
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Vance → break → jobs
"If all the good jobs are overseas, then people here in Michigan can't spend money at your family business."
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people → spend → business
He pointed
of new foreign investment in the United States, by the three major Detroit-area automakers, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis.
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He → point → automakers
"We are turning the tide on this," Vance said, referring to the decline in U.S. manufacturing.
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Vance → turn → manufacturing
"And I think there are all these things I pointed to that show signs of progress.
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that → think → progress
But Sandy, I'll be the first person to tell you that, just as this country wasn't broken in one presidential term, it's gonna take more than 18 months to fix things and turn them around.
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it → tell → them
Since Mr. Trump returned to office last year, the unemployment rate has remained low, but inflation manufacturing jobs has also remained roughly flat.
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jobs → return → office
The number ofAsked by Dokoupil about Mr. Trump's assessment of an "A+" economy, Vance said the president was referring to new investments, "but he would be the first person to tell you that you gotta build the factories first before you can employ the workers working in those factories."
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you → say → factories
Vance later said: "I think what we're doing is, we're turning the ship around."
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we → say → ship
Iran and energy: "I recognize that gas prices are too high right now"
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prices → recognize → ?
One of the biggest pressure points on Americans' wallets
, which has kept even as the U.S. and Iran have refrained from active fighting in recent weeks.
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U.S. → keep → weeks
Keshon Wheatley, a barber from Detroit, told Vance that he voted for Mr. Trump in 2020 and 2024, in large part because he gave the president credit for low gas prices during his first term.
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he → tell → term
Now, gas prices are far higher — and he said he plans to vote for
, not Republican Mike Rogers.
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he → say → Rogers
Vance pointed to Iran's attacks on oil tankers.
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Vance → point → tankers
"We've never had a situation like this, where you have effectively the largest state sponsor of terrorism that's trying to completely choke off world energy supply," the vice president said, arguing that "if we just … left, and we let the Iranians control shipping out of the Strait of Hormuz, what that would mean is you would pay a lot more for gasoline."
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you → have → gasoline
Asked how long it will take for prices to ease, Vance said, "When this conflict is over, we are going to see gas prices come down."
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prices → ask → ?
He said oil is still being exported from the Middle East
by the U.S. military to allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
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ships → say → Hormuz
On the competitive Michigan Senate race, he argued El-Sayed — a frequent critic of the Iran war — has not offered a solution to the problem, and gave Rogers credit
for the war to end.
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war → argue → credit
"He's been remarkably independent about this," Vance said of Rogers.
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Vance → say → Rogers
Dokoupil asked Vance why the U.S. hasn't decisively won the Iran war, which has dragged on for longer than Mr. Trump initially expected.
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Trump → ask → war
Vance argued that "in some ways we have won decisively," but "the enemy gets a vote here."
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enemy → argue → vote
The vice president — who
with Iran over the summer — defended the president's Iran strategy, and said the Trump administration is looking for a "final firm commitment from the Iranians that they're not going to rebuild their nuclear program."Man whose wife died in Iranian strike decries "fundamental failures"
The Iran war has also imposed human costs, with 21 U.S. service members killed and hundreds injured since the conflict began in late February.
In the war's early hours, six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers were
on a site in Kuwait, including .
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soldiers → with → Kuwait
Her husband, Joey Amor, asked Vance about that the was not adequately secured.
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the → ask → Vance
"Though the Iranian drone was the weapon that killed my wife, there were a lot of mistakes and a lot of fundamental failures that led up to that," Amor said, asking Vance "how this administration is gonna start holding those leaders accountable."
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leaders → kill → Vance
Vance said he didn't doubt
, but "sometimes information doesn't filter up to me." He vowed to "take every single failure extremely seriously.
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He → say → failure
"He also noted that
have changed warfare, and "we have changed a lot of our tactics to try to suppress that drone fire, to try to protect our troops to make it so that more people don't have to pay the ultimate sacrifice.
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people → note → sacrifice
"Vance also said: "I know that there are some issues with, for example … where troops were located that we realized was a huge mistake and that we could do better on.
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we → say → that
And we have changed that."
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we → change → that
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia
