White House pivot: Trump tells Vance to hunt corruption over Iran

President Donald Trump ordered Vice President JD Vance to stop focusing on the Iran war. The directive came in a social media post on Thursday, where Trump argued that the U.S. has already secured its financial and strategic interests. He stated that the country now possesses hundreds of billions of dollars from Iran and controls the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump instructed Vance to direct his complete and total attention to fighting corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled cities and states. This shift follows the Republican Party's sweeping losses in the midterm elections held on November 3. Vance had previously argued that the war and its economic impact caused those defeats. He called the loss of the Senate for the next six years a costly price to pay for the conflict.

Vance served as the lead negotiator for a short-lived truce in the eight-month-old war. He wrote a post on X following the election results, stating that those who believed the war was worth it should argue that the loss of the Senate was a worthwhile cost. The vice president is considering a run for the White House in 2028. His stance on the war could influence his political standing as Democrats take control of Congress in January.

The White House press office confirmed in an email that Trump sees no need to negotiate with Iran. They noted that Trump made this clear in his post about Vance. This guidance follows a report from The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday evening. That report indicated Vance was weighing a new round of direct talks with a senior Iranian official. The vice president's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Oil shipments out of the Strait of Hormuz have recovered to near prewar levels. Iran had effectively choked the waterway for months, blocking crude and energy resources from Persian Gulf neighbors. International tankers now rely on U.S. Navy escorts to move oil through the strait. The U.S. military has recently carried out limited strikes on Iran, including attacks on its air defenses.

Attacks on ships traversing the waterway have increased recently. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center reported that at least two tankers were struck by projectiles in recent days. One tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, northwest of Ras al-Khaimah. The crew evacuated safely with no casualties. A second tanker was struck in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, with multiple people taken ashore for medical assistance.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Group of Seven counterparts in Paris this week that the U.S. wants allies to step up to protect ships. He acknowledged that the group made no headway on the issue. A Saudi-led coalition is also fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, making transport through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait precarious.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said the United States asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to facilitate direct negotiations. Qalibaf told Al Jazeera that Americans spoke with Putin during a visit to Moscow and asked him to speak with Iran. He stated that Russia is a friend of Iran and that the two countries hold strategic relations. Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, traveled to Russia to brief Putin on the negotiations.

Qalibaf said it is up to the U.S. side to respond to Iran's positions. He noted that if the U.S. is sincere about negotiations, it should begin the process. If the U.S. wants to pursue war, Iran is fully prepared for that outcome. The White House did not directly respond to a query about whether the U.S. has asked Putin to facilitate talks.