Overview
- Vice President J.D. Vance told Joe Rogan on Wednesday that elements within Israel ran a paid social-media and leak campaign aimed at derailing U.S. talks with Iran, citing a Time report about Brad Parscale’s firm Clock Tower X.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in her first briefing back from maternity leave, told reporters that President Trump and Vance are ‘on the same page’ and acknowledged that foreign governments try to influence American public opinion.
- Leavitt tied recent U.S. military operations to a changed Iranian posture and said the strikes degraded Tehran’s ability to communicate, a claim offered to explain why negotiating openings have appeared.
- President Trump’s recent public statements calling negotiations with Iran a waste of time contrast with Vance’s more negotiation-friendly remarks, creating an observable tension in messaging that conservative commentators have criticized.
- The dispute comes as Qatar-mediated technical talks in Doha and unresolved verification and sanctions questions leave negotiations fragile, and the public split could affect U.S. leverage, congressional support, and relations with Israel.