Inside J.D. Vance And Donald Trump's Complicated Relationship

When Donald Trump first ran for president in 2016, no one could dream that he'd ever pick Ohio junior senator J.D. Vance as his future running mate. The latter couldn't be more critical of Trump back in the day. In fact, he probably infuriated plenty of Republicans with his comments about how Trump was "America's Hitler" and an "idiot," (via Politico). Vance, who wasn't exactly a fan of the Democrats either, announced to the public in a since-deleted tweet that he planned to vote for former CIA officer Evan McMullin, who was running as an Independent in 2016. But he did express some concern over Trump possibly winning the election. "I think there's a chance, if I feel like Trump has a really good chance of winning, that I might have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton," Vance told NPR.

And yet, Vance seemed to understand why so many people related to Trump. "Donald Trump, if nothing else, is relatable to the average working-class American because he speaks off the cuff. He's clearly unfiltered and unrehearsed," Vance said. "Even if, you know, half of the things that he says don't make any sense or a quarter of the things that he says are offensive. There's something to be said about relatability," he explained.

Trump, for his part, mostly ignored Vance (publicly, anyway), but he was aware of his criticism. So how on earth are these two 2024 running mates? Let's break it down, shall we?

While preparations for the 2016 election were in full swing, J.D. Vance was marketing his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis." The book landed the No. 1 spot on The New York Times Bestseller list, and suddenly, everyone wanted Vance's opinion on the election, even though he hadn't ventured into politics just yet. During an NPR interview, Vance made his dislike for Trump pretty clear and uttered words now used against him by the Democrats. "I can't stomach Trump. I think that he's noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place," he said.

In another interview with Charlie Rose, Vance said that Trump's campaign tactic was to encourage people to blame others for their problems, and he was pretty critical of it. "I think a lot of these grievances are legitimate, but what it is doing is it's giving people an excuse to point the finger at someone else. Point the finger at Mexican immigrants, or Chinese trade, or the Democratic elites, or whatever else," he said. He proceeded to double down on his dislike of Trump and his politics. "I'm a 'Never Trump' guy. I never liked him," Vance said. And yet, he admitted that he understood why so many middle class Americans saw Trump as their hero, but he couldn't bring himself to align with them.

Donald Trump's guilty verdict in his New York fraud trial has had many pointing out that it seems ludicrous that a convicted felon can run for the highest office. And yet, that's exactly what happened. J.D. Vance once said that Trump had no business being in the White House, and in an op-ed he wrote for The New York Times in 2016 titled "Why Trump's Antiwar Message Resonates with White America," Vance was critical of the presidential nominee. He admitted that even his own family were fans of the presidential hopeful, but added, "Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation's highest office." Funnily enough, he is now running alongside Trump for that very office. The irony is not lost on anyone.

Despite his former comments, Vance blamed the Democrats for the shooting at Trump's Pennsylvania rally in 2024. He claimed their messaging about the former president is what caused the attempt on Trump's life. Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell immediately jumped in to point out Vance's former inflammatory comments about Trump. "You called Trump 'American Hitler' — now show your self back to the kids' table," Swalwell tweeted.

One thing J.D. Vance and Donald Trump have in common is their mutual love for social media rants. There's a reason Trump got banned from X, formerly Twitter, in 2021. His tweets and comments were determined to have played a significant part in the January 6 insurrection, and he was ousted from the platform two days later. Vance might have been slightly disappointed by the former president's ungraceful exit from X since he appeared to enjoy taking frequent jabs at Trump. In October 2016, he criticized Trump's treatment of foreigners. "Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us," he wrote in the since-deleted tweet, which lives on in various screenshots on X.

When Trump's infamous Access Hollywood tape was released, Vance took to X to reprimand those who were defending him. For those not in the know, the tape featured Trump talking about how he made his moves on unsuspecting women. "You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful ... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p***y. You can do anything," he could be heard saying (via the BBC). "Fellow Christians, everyone is watching us when we apologize for this man. Lord help us," Vance tweeted.

Never one to back down from a fight, it is odd that Donald Trump never went on a social media tirade over J.D. Vance's comments. Perhaps he considered him a small fish not worthy of his attention. Vance wasn't a political rival, merely a former Marine and bestselling author. But then he ran for the Ohio Senate in 2021, and was put on Trump's radar by the former president's remaining aides after his disgraceful exit from the White House. Trump was looking to endorse one of the candidates in the race, and some seemed eager for it to be Vance. It's likely Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., also brought him up as the candidate to endorse, given his friendship with Vance. Trump was skeptical. "J.D. Vance. I like J.D., but they tell me he is dead as a dog," Trump said (via Politico).

Vance knew Trump's endorsement could be the difference between winning the election and being left in the dust, and it's said the former president was quite enjoying how the candidates in the race were bending over backward to please him. Word has it he particularly enjoyed seeing this behavior from Vance, who used to be his biggest critic. There's nothing the former president liked more than hearing a Trump opposer telling the world that they'd changed their mind, but he really let Vance work for it.

J.D. Vance and Donald Trump met for the first time in 2021 at Mar-a-Lago, right before Vance set out on the campaign trail to become Ohio's junior senator. Suddenly, he needed Donald Trump's endorsement to secure a win. He knew it, Trump knew it. The meeting had been set up by billionaire and very generous Republican donor Peter Thiel, who was one of Vance's biggest fans and wanted him and Trump to smooth things over so the former could secure an endorsement, and his seat in the Senate.

The former president didn't mince his words when he met Vance, telling him that he'd seen all the online criticism. "You weren't a big fan of me in 2016," he told Vance (via Politico). "I like you but you said some really nasty things about me." Vance apologized, but he didn't grovel, according to sources who spoke to The Guardian. This impressed Trump, and after that meeting, Vance's chiding came to an abrupt end. This, the former president also liked. Vance proved he was loyal, a quality Trump is said to value in others. Before the night was out, Trump requested a selfie with Vance, who asked permission to post it on social media. "I wouldn't do that," Trump replied. "But you are one handsome son of a b*tch." Trump somehow seemed able to put the past behind him, and one might say this is how their friendship started.

When the former president calls you one handsome son of a b*tch, there's probably a good chance you'll get his endorsement down the line, and lo and behold, that's exactly what happened to J.D. Vance. The man must have a special gift for apologies, given that Trump is known to hold grudges. Not long after their first meeting at Mar-a-Lago in 2021, Trump finally made the decision to back Vance as Ohio's junior senator in April 2022, waiting until the eleventh hour to issue his endorsement and probably getting his retribution for Vance's past comments in the process. Vance's very public apologies for his former criticism of Trump after that fateful Mar-a-Lago meeting certainly didn't hurt. "I ask folks not to judge me based on what I said in 2016," Vance said during one Fox News interview (via Politico). "I regret being wrong about the guy. I think he was a good president."

Trump's endorsement of Vance in April 2022 came as a bit of a shock to many. "It is time for the entire MAGA movement, the greatest in the history of our Country, to unite behind J.D.'s campaign because, unlike so many other pretenders and wannabes, he will put America First," Trump said in his endorsement (via CNN). Pundits were puzzled, with CNN political commentator Chris Cillizza saying the endorsement "doesn't make a ton of sense."

Donald Trump went from endorsing J.D. Vance as Ohio's junior senator to selecting him as his 2024 running mate. Everything we thought we knew about Trump's 2024 presidential campaign has since gone out the window. With Kamala Harris taking Joe Biden's place on the Democratic ticket, things have changed, and all bets are off.

Vance seemed an unlikely choice, given his former dislike of Trump. Endorsing someone for senator and appointing them as your potential vice president are two very different things, after all, but insiders who spoke to The Guardian say Trump is planning on using Vance's past criticism of him to his campaign's advantage. He's aware that the Democrats will be digging it up — in fact, he's counting on it. The Trump campaign believes that showing a Trump critic turned Trump supporter will appeal to voters who disliked Trump in the past but now find themselves unsure where to cast their vote. The thinking is that those who realize that Vance changed his mind might find themselves considering doing the same. Vance is, for all intents and purposes, the campaign's trump card (no pun intended).

The Trump campaign is also bargaining on Vance getting them some swing votes in Rust Belt states. He is popular among the white working-class Americans in the area and has a unique connection with them, having grown up in similar circumstances himself.

Ever since selecting J.D. Vance as his running mate, Donald Trump has had his hands full trying to put out fires started by some of Vance's more controversial comments. Rumors started swirling that Trump is regretting his VP pick and might replace Vance before his time to do so runs out. However, experts pointed out that the likelihood of this happening was slim. The Trump campaign has vehemently denied any plans to oust Vance from the race. 

"President Trump is thrilled with the choice he made with Senator Vance, and they are the perfect team to take back the White House. And any reporting to the contrary is nothing but ridiculous fake news from either non-existent sources or individuals who have no idea what's going on," communications director for the Trump campaign, Steven Cheung, told Newsweek.

Even some Republicans appeared to be unhappy with Trump's VP pick, with Vance admitting it during an interview on Sunday Morning Futures. "I actually take their criticism as a badge of honor," he said (via Newsweek). Meanwhile, Trump's former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, took to X, formerly Twitter, to add his voice to the chorus of critics. "Trump has to replace Vance to get back in the race," he wrote. It didn't help that Vance's approval ratings were abysmally low, but Trump ultimately stood by his choice.

Donald Trump has made his fair share of controversial comments in the past, and J.D. Vance shares this trait. In 2021, he made explosive comments about members of the Democratic party, dubbing them "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too" (via AP News). He included Vice President Kamala Harris, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in these comments. In one of his speeches, Vance implied that those who don't have children don't have a direct stake in the country and should therefore not have the same voting power as those who do, going as far as to suggest that parents should be able to cast ballots in their children's stead.

Vance's comments about childless cat ladies left many hot under the collar, and Trump has tried to quell the renewed uproar, making it clear to Fox News (via NDTV) that he did not share Vance's views while also strategically defending his new running mate. "You know, you don't meet the right person, or you don't meet any person. But you're just as good, in many cases, a lot better than a person that's in a family situation," Trump said. He then defended Vance's comments, saying that he was coming from a place of valuing his family.

While Donald Trump has made it clear he's happy with his vice presidential pick, he's also diminished J.D. Vance's importance on the ticket. He told the audience during the National Association of Black Journalists convention that Vance will have no impact on whether he wins the election or not. "Historically the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have any impact, virtually no impact," Trump said (via Sky News). "It's all about the presidential pick," he added.

Trump reiterated that he believed Vance was an excellent choice but that his popularity and abilities won't be what people look at when casting their vote; it will ultimately come down to whether people approve of him (Trump) as the presidential candidate or not. "You're voting for me," Trump said. "If you like me, I'm going to win. If you don't like me, I'm not going to win."

While one would have expected Vance to be at least a little offended, he surprised everyone when he told CBS News that he agreed. When asked how he was going to prove Trump wrong about his importance on the ticket, Vance replied, "I think President Trump is right about that, actually." He explained that people will be looking at how the Trump and Biden-Harris administration ran things and cast their ballot based on that; the vice presidential nominee will be an afterthought. "It's just straightforward political reality. I think Donald Trump's right," Vance said.