Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio appear to be taking different approaches to carrying out President Donald Trump’s national security agenda, even as both men deny any rift and the administration insists it is united. The contrast has drawn attention as the two possible 2028 presidential contenders position themselves within a divided Republican Party.
While both have been publicly respectful of each other, their differences appear most visible on the Middle East. Vance has taken the lead on Iran negotiations and has at times criticised Israel’s actions in Lebanon, while Rubio has stayed supportive of Israel or avoided public criticism, especially on Lebanon, where he has taken the lead and helped secure a preliminary framework agreement last week.
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The two men come from very different backgrounds and have built their space in different ways. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has a long Senate record and a strong interest in Latin America. Vance, who grew up in the American Midwest and is a Marine Corps veteran, served only two years in the Senate before becoming Trump’s 2024 running mate with a message centred on opposing foreign wars.
Dan Fried, a former assistant secretary of state and ambassador to Poland who is now with the Atlantic Council, said, “The talk about differences is not idle speculation. There is definitely something to it.” The White House rejected suggestions of a split. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, “Why is the legacy media obsessed with driving a wedge between Vice President Vance and Secretary Rubio that does not exist? There is one camp – President Trump’s camp – and the entire administration is fully behind the president’s efforts to ensure Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said “Rubio and the entire administration is 100% in lockstep behind President Trump.”
Still, according to Trump administration officials familiar with the matter, Rubio was so doubtful about getting an acceptable deal with Iran that he declined to lead the US delegation to the first ceasefire talks in April in Islamabad, Pakistan. Vance, the officials said, saw a chance to strengthen his foreign policy credentials and asked Trump twice to let him lead before Trump agreed. Vance then led the US delegation to the inconclusive meeting in Pakistan, and again this month at talks in Switzerland after the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding. The truce set out in that document remains fragile and has been tested by repeated exchanges of fire in recent days.
Ian Kelly, a retired career diplomat and ambassador during the first Trump administration, said, “It’s rather unusual for the VP to be given the lead role in a negotiation, but it’s quite possible that Rubio is happy to let him. It’s a pig in a poke. It’s a loser job.” He added that both men seem to “have equal ambitions to replace” Trump, and said the president’s semi-joking remarks this month that he would blame Vance if the Iran talks fail suggested Vance was being “set up for failure”.
Vance has spoken positively, though cautiously, about the chances of a broad agreement with Iran. He dismissed talk of tensions with Rubio, saying, “We’re all focused on the jobs in front of us. I think the president loves to stir the pot a little bit and loves the entertainment of it.” He added, “I love Marco. I think he’s a great secretary of state. He’s become a very, very dear friend. I think both of us are very much focused on accomplishing the American people’s business right now.” Rubio also denied any split, telling reporters in Bahrain last week, “When it comes to foreign policy and national security, we have no drama. We have no games.” He added, “We have a group of people that work very well together and closely to execute on the president’s directives, which is why I think we’ve had good outcomes and good achievements, and we’re going to continue to have good outcomes and good achievements. Everyone has an important role to play, and everyone is playing that role and doing it in a collaborative process.”
Even so, Trump has kept talk of a possible rivalry alive by asking supporters whom they would prefer to succeed him and by suggesting at one point that Vance and Rubio could be an unbeatable ticket. Fried said the two men clearly do not see the world in the same way. “Rubio speaks within the rubric of the Ronald Reagan construct of the free world and its importance,” he said. “Vance is not interested in the free-world construct. He speaks in the language of not wanting to fight what he believes are abstractions.” Fried also said, “We’re headed toward a bad place in Iran, which is giving up any support for Iranian civil society and not being terribly good at containing Iran,” and added, “Instead, we seem to be allowing ourselves to be backed into a sphere of influence’ situation where Iran is weaker but ends up better off than before. I can’t imagine Rubio agreeing to that.”
Rubio’s aides say he has repeatedly said he would defer to Vance if the vice president decides to run for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. At the same time, Rubio has used his roles as secretary of state and national security adviser to reshape the National Security Council, placing close allies in senior White House positions in recent weeks. They include former State Department counsellor Mike Needham, now deputy national security adviser; Jeremy Lewin, who is set to join the NSC as a deputy for the Western Hemisphere; and Dylan Johnson, who leads NSC communications while also serving as assistant secretary of state for public affairs. Taken together, the developments show an administration presenting unity in public even as Vance and Rubio pursue different tracks on foreign policy and build their own positions within Trump’s team.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
