Apr 21, 2026 12:39 pm IST

Opinion | Trump Has Found His Iran 'Scapegoat'. The Scapegoat Doesn't Know It Yet

When all else fails, Trump might very well throw his Vice President, JD Vance, under the bus. Remember what happened to Mike Pence?

Harsh V Pant Harsh V Pant Columnist

Harsh V Pant Columnist

If one were to locate the Trump-Vance equation within the broader grammar of contemporary American politics, it would appear less as a partnership and more as a hierarchy sustained by performative loyalty and strategic expendability. Donald Trump continues to rely on JD Vance as both amplifier and absorber: a political instrument who articulates Trumpism with youthful aggression while simultaneously insulating the principal from the consequences of his own risk-taking.

In public, Vance performs the role with near-textbook precision. He is combative, ideologically aligned, and unflinchingly deferential - whether defending escalation in the Iran theatre or engaging in cultural skirmishes, including those involving figures like Pope Leo XIV. Trump, in turn, signals approval by projecting Vance as a future standard-bearer for 2028. Yet, beneath this carefully curated symmetry lies an unmistakable asymmetry of power. Trump's occasional barbs about Vance's earlier hesitation on Iran are not incidental; they are reminders of hierarchy, deployed to keep ambition tethered to obedience.

Ambition vs Obedience

The recent Iran episode underscores this dynamic with unusual clarity. Vance's assignment for high-stakes negotiations in Islamabad was less an opportunity than a calibrated risk. The........

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