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WASHINGTON - Vice President JD Vance offered a detailed defense of the Trump administration’s immigration policies during a Wednesday podcast appearance, using Haitian immigration to Springfield, Ohio, as an example of the problems immigration creates. Vance told the Pod Force One podcast that during his days representing Ohio in the U.S. Senate, his constituents in Springfield said the influx of 20,000 Haitian migrants to a town of 40,000 people created severe housing problems for existing residents. The Cincinnati Republican said landlords who were renting three-bedroom houses to families of four or five for around $1,000 per month suddenly had Haitian migrant families willing to pay significantly more by housing multiple families together. Vance touched on a wide range of topics in the podcast, including deportations, the Oval Office confrontation with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, his reassessment of Donald Trump and the 2028 election. On immigration, he took aim at one of the Trump administration’s favorite targets: Former President Joe Biden. “Four families of Haitian migrants come in, each of them getting $1,000 per family, and they’re willing to put 20 people into a three bedroom house,” Vance said, arguing that pricing existing residents out of those houses created tensions. “It is totally reasonable and acceptable for American citizens to look at their next-door neighbors and say, I want to live next to people who I have something in common with. I don’t want to live next to four families of strangers,” he said. “And the fact that we had an immigration system that actually promoted that division is a real, real disgrace of the Biden administration.” During the 2024 presidential campaign, Vance and then-candidate Donald Trump spread unfounded rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating people’s pets. City officials said the influx of immigrants - who had temporary protected status under the administration of President Joe Biden - strained local resources, but said there was no evidence of pet abductions. After the pet-eating rumors were publicized, local schools and government buildings closed over repeated bomb threats. The Trump administration has revoked the temporary protected status of Haitian immigrants. It is scheduled to become effective in February 2026. The Springfield News-Sun reports that some of the city’s Haitian immigrants left the community, but most remain. Deportation Progress Vance reported that the administration has reduced the net number of migrants in the country by approximately 2 million people in its first eight months on the job, through a combination of deportations and what he called “self deportations.” “We’re gonna try to chip away at that as much as possible,” Vance said. Vance accused the Biden administration of pursuing open border policies for political gain. “I think the most obvious thing is that it completely distorts the democratic process in this country,” he said. “When you let in millions upon millions of people, some of them will eventually get the ability to vote. It certainly distorts the congressional maps.” The Zelensky confrontation Reflecting on his now-famous confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office earlier this year, Vance said the incident was unplanned, and that he publicly upbraided Zelensky after being frustrated “because I perceived some rudeness.” The viral exchange, where Vance called Zelensky disrespectful and asked if he’d ever thanked the United States, is ”probably the most famous thing I’ve ever done, or maybe ever will do,” Vance told the podcast. He emphasized the importance of diplomatic protocol: “If you come to the Oval Office, you come to the people’s White House in the United States of America, there’s an expectation that you’re going to show the head of state, the president United States, a little bit of respect if you’re going to disagree.” Vance said the public airing of disagreements ultimately improved the relationship between the United States and Ukraine. “I do think that now the relationship is much more productive,” he said. Foreign policy philosophy Vance, an Iraq War veteran who has warned against foreign entanglements, said he does not think Trump and others in his “Make America Great Again” MAGA movement are isolationists. “What I do think that they are is that they are very skeptical of getting involved in foreign conflicts, because for pretty much my entire life, a lot of times we get involved in a foreign conflict and it’s a total disaster,” said Vance. He pointed to Trump’s position during the 2016 primaries as illustrative: “Who was the one guy on stage saying it was a disaster for us to be involved in Iraq? That was Donald Trump.” When asked about administration’s bombing Iranian nuclear facilities, Vance said he wasn’t worried about escalation because he understood Trump’s thinking. “He was surgically focused on that particular issue, and he was not interested in putting 100,000 troops in Iran,” Vance explained. The President gave Iran an opportunity to dismantle its nuclear facilities peacefully, and when they refused, “he said, Okay, we’re going to do it, not peacefully.” Vance summarized Trump’s foreign policy approach: “He’s both skeptical of foreign entanglements, but he’s not afraid to use American military power when he has to.” Reassessing Trump Although he started off as a Trump skeptic, Vance said he endorsed Trump early in the 2024 primary cycle because “he had shown an ability to stand up to the worst forces in American society with more courage and more grit than anybody else.” Trump’s foreign policy record particularly impressed him: “This is a guy who has a robust view of what American military power can accomplish, but also kept us out of any stupid foreign conflicts.” Since becoming vice president, Vance said he’s discovered Trump “has a very good heart,” particularly with children. He also praised Trump’s instincts: “He automatically understands when somebody is trying to get one over on him, and that makes them such an effective leader.” 2028 speculation When asked about President Trump’s public comments about a potential “dream ticket” of Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for 2028, the vice president deflected. “It feels so premature, because we’re still so early,” he said. “If we take care of business, the politics will take care of itself,” Vance added. “The American people elected me to be vice president, I’m going to work as hard as I can to make the president successful over the next three years and three months.” He emphasized his focus remains on the present: “I never want to wake up and think to myself, How do I make myself President of the United States? What I wake up and think to myself is, how do I do a good job as vice president?”
