Vice President JD Vance urged young voters frustrated with the Trump administration’s approach to the Middle East not to disengage from politics, but to get more involved as the way to influence policy and “take the country back.”
The vice president acknowledged that a majority of young Americans don’t like the Trump administration’s Middle East policy, but he told them not to give up, but to get more involved in politics.
“I recognize that a lot of young voters don’t love the policy that we have on the Middle East,” Vance said at a Turning Point USA event on Tuesday, April 15.
“Don’t get disengaged because you disagree with the admin on one topic. Get more involved. That’s how we take the country back,” he added.
The message came as Vance faced audible heckling from parts of the audience. When a protester shouted “You’re killing children!” and accused the administration of bombing civilians in Gaza, Vance pushed back sharply.
“Excuse me, sir,” he replied. “Right now, you see more humanitarian aid coming into Gaza than it has in the past five years because we have taken that situation seriously.”
He pointed to the former administration as the one that failed to resolve the crisis, arguing the current team was delivering results where the previous one had not.
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Many younger supporters had backed Trump and Vance in 2024 on promises to end endless wars and put “America First.”
Yet ongoing U.S. involvement in the region, including tensions with Iran and strong support for Israel, has left some feeling the administration drifted from those campaign pledges.
Vance used the moment to reframe disagreement as an invitation to act rather than an excuse to sit out.
He told the crowd to vote, organize, and put more pressure on leaders rather than ignore differences in foreign policy. He said that the only realistic way to shape outcomes is to stay in the fight.
On social media, Americans pointed out flaws in his statement. They said it didn’t make sense for Vance to tell young voters to take the country back when he and President Trump are in charge of everything from the top.
With Republicans controlling the White House, both houses of Congress, and a conservative Supreme Court majority in April 2026, critics asked who exactly needed to “take the country back” when the GOP already held the reins of power.
Vance tied the domestic message to active diplomacy abroad. In an interview with Bret Baier, Vance also talked about the recent high-level talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, noting that the U.S. goal in the talks was to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons and make the region safer.
Vance speaks about further talks with Iran.
When Baier asked if more talks were coming and whether Vance was steering them, the vice president shifted responsibility. “That question would be best put to the Iranians. The ball is in their court.”
He explained why the U.S. delegation ultimately left the meetings without a deal. “This is ultimately why we left Pakistan, because what we figured out is the team there was unable to cut a deal. And they had to go back to Tehran, either from the supreme leader or somebody else, to get approval.”
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Vance portrayed the stalled negotiations as a step forward, saying they represented one of the most direct high-level engagements in years.
The U.S. demands included the removal of enriched nuclear material from Iran and firm commitments against developing a nuclear weapon.
Progress now depends on whether Tehran is willing to meet those conditions or risk additional escalation.
There have been bigger questions about whether the administration’s approach in the Middle East fits with the isolationist mood of the 2024 campaign.
At the TPUSA event, Vance tried to close that gap by redirecting youthful energy. He suggested that youths should fuel greater participation rather than withdrawal.
