COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) 鈥� Vice President JD Vance was dismissing Ukraine long before he upended Friday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 鈥渄isrespectful鈥� and asking if he had ever thanked the U.S. for its support.
When Vance was in Ohio in 2022, he said on Steve Bannon's 鈥淲ar Room鈥� podcast that he thought it was ridiculous that the U.S. was focused on the border between Ukraine and Russia. 鈥淚 gotta be honest with you,鈥� he told the host, a Trump ally. "I don鈥檛 really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.鈥�
鈥淚 think that there are a lot of democracies in the world,鈥� he told The Associated Press that March, shortly after Russia launched its invasion. 鈥淎nd every time that one of them gets into a conflict now, at the end, it can鈥檛 be our concern.鈥�
Vance continued to voice throughout the Senate race, which he won with Donald Trump's help, and as he ran as Trump's running mate in last year's presidential election. Last May, Vance said that his two biggest objections to sending U.S. aid to Ukraine were that the war had 鈥渘o strategic end in sight and it鈥檚 not leading anywhere that鈥檚 going to ultimately be good for our country鈥� and that it amounts to 鈥渟ubsidizing the Europeans to do nothing.鈥�
The vice president's argument with Zelenskyy on Friday illustrated the sharp shift in mainstream GOP politics away from an expansive view of protecting democracies abroad. An Iraq War veteran who is widely expected to run for president in 2028, the 40-year-old Vance leads a younger generation of the party that is skeptical of foreign wars and scornful of neoconservatives, following Trump's lead.
Vance has largely been overshadowed by Elon Musk and his government-cutting effort in the first six weeks of Trump鈥檚 presidency. Vance has several key roles, including serving as a liaison to Congress and overseeing the potential sale of TikTok, but had been more in the background.
That all changed in Friday's meeting, which had been cordial until Vance spoke up to criticize former President Joe Biden and laud Trump for seeking a diplomatic solution to the war.
Zelenskyy 鈥� a critic of direct talks between Washington and Moscow 鈥� responded with his view that Russia was untrustworthy and then challenged Vance.
鈥淲hat kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?" he said. 鈥淲hat do you mean?鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 talking about the kind of diplomacy that鈥檚 going to end the destruction of your country,鈥� Vance responded before tearing into the Ukrainian leader. 鈥淢r. President, with respect, I think it鈥檚 disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.鈥�
The meeting quickly turned into a shouting match. Trump accused Zelenskyy of deliberately not seeking peace in favor of another world war, while Zelenskyy suggested the U.S. would 鈥渇eel it in the future.鈥� Trump eventually ordered Zelenskyy out of the White House, canceling a lunch and a press conference.
Vance鈥檚 comments Friday highlighted the role he鈥檚 been given by Trump to amplify the president鈥檚 aggressive new approach to diplomacy, said Christopher McKnight Nichols, an Ohio State University professor of history specializing in isolationism.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an empowered vice presidency with Vance in this role,鈥� Nichols said. He said Trump and Vance seemed to want Zelenskyy to come to Friday鈥檚 meeting 鈥渁s a supplicant,鈥� which has not traditionally been how the U.S. greets its allies.
Vance about the state of democracy and free speech across the continent at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, then at a White House meeting alleging the same trend in the United Kingdom.
Even traditional Republican defenders of Ukraine got behind Trump and Vance on Friday.
鈥淚 have never been more proud of President @realDonaldTrump and Vice President @JDVance for standing up for America First,鈥� wrote Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on X.
Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, a longtime friend of Vance鈥檚 who was appointed to his former Senate seat in January, treaded a bit more carefully.
鈥淧utin invaded Ukraine under President Barack Obama, and then again under President Joe Biden 鈥� neither of them had a strategy to win a war or bring peace to the region,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淎merica under President Trump is working to bring peace. It is very easy to start a war but incredibly hard to end one. President Zelensky did not help himself with the comments he made in the Oval Office today.鈥�
But U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, took umbrage with Vance on X, formerly Twitter.
鈥淎nswer to Vance: Zelenskyy has thanked our country over and over again both privately and publicly,鈥� she tweeted. 鈥淎nd our country thanks HIM and the Ukrainian patriots who have stood up to a dictator, buried their own & stopped Putin from marching right into the rest of Europe. Shame on you.鈥�
And former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican long associated with neoconservatism who campaigned against Trump last fall, went further, casting Trump's and Vance's pushback against Zelenskyy as being pro-Russian.
鈥淕enerations of American patriots, from our revolution onward, have fought for the principles Zelenskyy is risking his life to defend,鈥� she posted. 鈥淏ut today, Donald Trump and JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy and pressured him to surrender the freedom of his people to the KGB war criminal who invaded Ukraine. History will remember this day 鈥� when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
Julie Carr Smyth, The Associated Press
