Vice President JD Vance slammed former President Joe Biden’s foreign policy as a “total disaster” on Thursday after the ex-commander in chief criticized a heated Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Biden described the infamous Feb. 28 meeting between Zelensky, Vance and President Trump as “beneath America,” during an interview with the BBC earlier this week.
“I think it’s rich for Joe Biden to comment on anything that we’re doing when it comes to Russia and Ukraine,” Vance shot back, during an interview with Martha MacCallum, host of “The Story” on Fox News.
“Under Biden’s administration, Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” the vice president continued.
“I wish Joe Biden the best,” Vance added. “I don’t really care what he has to say about American foreign policy because so much of what he actually did was a total disaster.”
Vance went on to express optimism that US-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine would result in a peace deal, despite an initial Russian offer to end the 3-year-long invasion that he acknowledged was unreasonable.
“We obviously want Ukraine to remain a sovereign country,” the vice president said. “We knew that the Russians’ first offer would be too much. We knew that they would ask for more than was reasonable to give. That’s how negotiations often work. I’m not bothered by that.”
Vance warned, as he has before, that the Trump administration is willing to “walk away” from negotiations if they aren’t being done in “good faith.”
“What would bother me is if we conclude that the Russians are not engaging in the negotiation in good faith. And if that happens, yeah, we’re [going to] walk away.”
“I actually think it’s progress that they’re even talking,” the vice president continued. “We’re putting concrete peace plans on the table.”
Asked about the state of trade negotiations with China in the aftermath of Trump announcing the landmark framework for a trade agreement with the United Kingdom – the first deal the administration has struck since the president’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement last month – Vance indicated that Washington striking a deal with Beijing is “very achievable.”
“We’re [going to] have a conversation with [China]. We’ll see where it leads,” he said. “We just [want a] deal with any country, whether it’s China or anybody else that makes American workers and American businesses in a better position.”
Meanwhile, Vance was adamant that the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in government would continue after Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk’s tenure as a special government employee expires.
“Elon’s not disappearing,” Vance said. “Nobody said that the work of DOGE would only last 110 days and that would be it.”
“We think there’s a lot more waste and fraud that we can find.”
The vice president also revealed that Attorney General Pam Bondi is laying the groundwork for fraud lawsuits related to DOGE findings – but said prosecutions could take “years.”
“I know that she’s working on building the case against some of these people who have committed absolute fraud on the American people. You’re [going to] see some of those prosecutions over the next few years,” Vance said.
Turning to more personal politics, Vance dismissed the idea that there is any tension between himself and Secretary of State Marco Rubio – both of whom have been floated by Trump as potential 2028 presidential candidates.
“Marco’s actually my, probably my best friend in the administration,” the veep said. “We hang out and talk all the time. He’s doing a really good job. And, of course, I’m doing the best job that I can.”
“I can see myself doing a really good job for the next 1,100 days, and then the American people can figure it out from there,” Vance said of his presidential ambitions.
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