Tuesday evening was all about the State of the Union, and that's appropriate. It was, as someone once said, a big freakin' deal. But that didn't stop Vice President JD Vance from appearing on Fox News, where he spoke with host Bill Hemmer on two topics of great geopolitical import: Iran and Ukraine.
.@VP: "@POTUS has been as crystal clear as he could be: Iran can't have a nuclear weapon... that is of course what we're trying to accomplish, as the president said, through the preferred route of diplomacy—but it's very simple. We have to get to a point where Iran, the largest… pic.twitter.com/bpaqQsoSir
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 25, 2026
Vice President Vance said:
I try to understand where other people are coming from, Bill, but I don't know what (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer is even talking about. The president has been as crystal clear as he could be, Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. That would be the ultimate military objective. If that's the route that he chose, that is, of course, what we're trying to accomplish, as the president said, through the preferred route of diplomacy. But it's very simple. We have to get to a position where Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, cannot threaten the world with nuclear terrorism. And it's a very simple... I think most Americans understand that you can't let the craziest and the worst regime in the world have nuclear weapons. That's what the president is accomplishing. That's what the president has set as our goal. He's going to try to accomplish it diplomatically, but as we all know, Bill, the president has a number of other tools at his disposal, to ensure this doesn't happen. He's shown a willingness to use them. And I hope the Iranians take it seriously in negotiations tomorrow, because that's certainly what the president prefers.
I'll repeat the caution I've been making all along: I hope the administration understands that they cannot take the current Iranian regime at their word. This isn't even a case of "trust, but verify." It's a case of "do not, ever, ever, trust them."
Read More: Trump Officials Drop Urgent Iran Nuclear Update on Congress Pre-SOTU
President Trump: 'Very Positive' Xi Call Covers Taiwan, Ukraine, Iran, and Massive New Trade Boost
Then, on the Russo-Ukrainian War:
.@VP: We've been engaged in very, very deliberate negotiations with both the Russians and the Ukrainians... and @POTUS has just set the entire team to try to bring the killing to a close... it's been difficult, but I think we're making progress. pic.twitter.com/uRCL1VbM7n
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 25, 2026
Again, the vice president said:
Bill, I think we've been engaged in a very, very deliberate negotiation with both the Russians and the Ukrainians. Obviously the Russians have some red lines, Ukrainians have some red lines, and the president has just set the entire team from (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio on down, to try to bring the killing to a close. You know, it's hard, as the president has said multiple times, he thought this was going to be the easiest war to solve, I agreed with him, it has turned out to be much more difficult. But I think that we're making progress, Bill, I think we're making progress with both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and we're just going to keep working at it. You know, eventually we're either going to be successful or not going to be, right now, the president has some good optimism that we can bring this thing to a successful close. It's bad for the world. It's bad for America. So we're going to keep working at it.
This, frankly, sounds a lot like what the status of this thing has been stuck at for some time. This conflict has settled into a war of attrition, and in that, Russia has the advantage of having more equipment and more young men to throw away, but Ukraine has been getting some new, higher-tech equipment, and tech can be an effective force multiplier. Still, it sure looks like this thing is going to end up being the thorniest foreign policy task that President Trump and his administration have taken on.
Tuesday's State of the Union, as these things generally do, focused mostly on domestic issues. But now, we're reminded that the rest of the world, along with all its problems, is still out there, too.
Editor's Note: With President Trump back in the White House, the state of our Union is strong once again.
Support RedState’s coverage of the president's State of the Union Address and help us report the truth the radical Left doesn't want you to hear. Join RedState VIP and use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member