On April 7, 2026, at a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Vice President JD Vance was asked to confirm US strikes on Kharg Island. He could not.
“I don't, unless I have a text message from Steve Witkoff,” he said. A Reuters reporter pressed: “I do think you have to read that text because we have reporting that the United States is striking some targets in Kharg Island.”
The precise nature of the gap matters. Vance was not ignorant of the plan. In the same exchange he said: “My understanding having talked to Pete and General Caine about this, is that we were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island. I believe we have done so.” He had been briefed by the Defense Secretary and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. What he lacked, standing at a podium abroad during a fragile truce, was any real-time confirmation that the strikes had been executed. He found that out from a journalist.
Six days earlier, at the White House Easter lunch on April 1, Trump had said on camera: “So, if it doesn't happen, I'm blaming JD Vance. If it does happen, I'm taking full credit.” He repeated the line at the G7 in France.