Tipsheet

Here's What Vice President Vance Had to Say at Today's White House Briefing

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  May 19, 2026 3:00 PM

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is on maternity leave, having welcomed a daughter, Viviana, on May 1. In her absence, several members of the Trump administration are taking turns covering the briefings and press conferences. Today, Vice President J.D. Vance led the briefing.

The briefing came amid developments in Iran. President Trump said earlier today that he was close to pulling the trigger on strikes in the nation after being asked by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. There are also updates on the Ebola outbreak in Africa, and President Trump's endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state's Republican Senate runoff.

Vance began by highlighting the work of the fraud task force. "We've caught, just in the last couple of months, billions upon billions of dollars of fraud in our hospice system, in our medicaid system, in our medicare system, in our immigration system."

"We've also started investigating some of the fraudulent criminal activity and prosecuting some of the fraudulent criminal activity," Vance said. He said fraud has two victims: the taxpayer and those who rely on social programs.

"It steals money from the taxpayer when they pay their taxes, and it also steals money from innocent peopel who are meant to benefit from these programs," Vance said. "We're very proud on the team."

He also updated us on Iran.

"It's actually a very simple proposition here," he said. "There are two options, two pathways, we can go down when it comes to the Iran situation. So, step back for a little bit. What the President of the United States has said is number one, that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. And I think it's important for the American people and all of you to appreciate that when we say that it's not just that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, it's what would happen if the Iranians did get a nuclear weapon. We know that a lot of nations all across the Gulf would all want their own nuclear weapon ... and what has been a very effective bright spot of American foreign policy, really for the last 20 or so years, would disappear overnight. If you have every country in the world scrambling to try to get a nuclear weapon, it would make us all much less safe. And Iran would really be the first domino in what would set off a nuclear arms race all over the world. That's very, very bad for the safety of our country."

"We effectively degraded their conventional military capability," Vance continued. "The president has asked us, has told us, to aggressively negotiate with the Iranians."

"There's an Option B. And the Option B is that we can restart the military campaign to continue to prosecute the case, to continue to try to achieve America's objectives," Vance said. "We have an opportunity ... to reset the relationship that has existed between Iran and the United States for 47 years."

"We are not going to have a deal that allows the Iranians to have a nuclear weapon," Vance added.

He also gave a shout-out to Karoline Leavitt. "I told Karoline I would stand in for her today at the White House press briefing on the condition that when Usha has our baby in July, she be Vice President for a couple of weeks."

Vance was asked about President Trump's endorsement of Ken Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate run-off. 

"We think Ken Paxton is going to be a great senator for the people of Texas," Vance said, "but most importantly a great United States senator who can work on solving the problems that all of us confront as a country together. I've known John Cornyn for a long time, but unfortunately, when it really counted, Ken Paxton was there for the country, was there for the President, and that's ultimately why he earned the President's endorsement."

Vance was asked to circle back about the negotiations with Iran, and whether the Iranians were negotiating in good faith. "I think you see that conflict; the fact that maybe the Iranians aren't themselves quite clear in what direction they want to go. They also are just a fractured country," he said.

When asked if he personally believed the Iranians would come to a deal, Vance said, "The honest answer is how could I possibly know? And you negotiate with people, and sometimes you feel like you're making progress, and sometimes you feel like you're not making progress. What I think, what I think, is the Iranians want to make a deal."

Vance was also asked about the weaponization fund, and why taxpayers should be settling lawsuits.

"I think in some ways the media has misrepresented what this is actualyl about. This is about compensating Americans for the lawfare that we saw under the last administration," Vance said. "And by the way, anybody can apply for it. Republicans can apply for it. Democrats can apply for it."

"Whenever the United States government incurs legal expenses, it pays out those legal expenses," Vance continued. "The question is, is a dollar of this money going to the Trump administration? No. Is a dollar of this money going to Donald Trump personally? Is a dollar of this money going to Donald Trump's family? No. The people that would get the money, some of whom have been prosecuted completely disproportionate to any crime they've committed."

"I think that what we’re going to see, hopefully, is the entire country, led by this Department of Justice, turning the page on the lawfare," Vance added, hoping the Democrats would meet them halfway.

Vance also addressed immigration fraud and how the Biden administration helped facilitate it.

"It's not just that they let a flood of people across the southern border," Vance said. "It's also that they allowed the asylum and refugee claimant process to become totally fraudulent." 

Vance also attacked the fake news and their double standards when it comes to criminals versus Republicans and January 6 protesters.

He was also asked about Europe and American military resources.

"We want Europe to step up in a big way," Vance said. 

"I think that if the European media wants to attack the President of the United States, the need to start looking in the mirror. All he has said is we're going to be good allies, we're going to be good friends, we're going to be reading partners," Vance said. "But it is reasonable for Europe to take a little bit more ownership over its continental integrity."

Vance shut down CNN's Kaitlin Collins when she said President Trump doesn't care about Americans' financial situations.

"What he said was totally taken out of context. What he said is that when he is negotiating with the Iranians, he's focused on the national security objectives that he's striving to achieve," Vance said. "He's worried about his fellow Americans. He wants them to be prosperous, he wants them to thrive, he wants them to have good jobs."