In a hilarious moment, JD Vance shared an anecdote of a terrifying experience he had watching President Trump put a prominent foreign leader on mute, say, “This is not going very well,” and press a red button on his desk — which turned out to be the “Diet Coke” button, prompting a White House waiter to carry in the president’s favorite beverage.
For context, at the Ohio Republican Party Dinner on June 24, 2025, Vice President JD Vance took the stage and laid out what he calls the “Trump Doctrine,” along with telling multiple humorous stories to the crowd — including one about a moment when he feared that President Trump was about to nonchalantly launch a nuclear strike by pressing a “big red button” on his desk, which drew laughs from the attendees.
During his speech, Vice President Vance told the crowd about a time when President Trump was on the phone with an unnamed world leader, muted himself, looked over at the vice president, and said, “This is not going very well.” Vice President Vance went on to explain, And he presses the red button, and my eyes get really big, and I’m like, ‘Mr. President, you know, what just happened?'”
Building the tension, the vice president recounted how the president had pulled a fast one on him to scare him, saying, “And he looks at me, and he goes, ‘Nuclear, nuclear.” Vice President Vance then added, “And two minutes later, a guy walks in with a Diet Coke and he looks back at me, he says, ‘It wasn’t nuclear, it’s just the Diet Coke button.'”
As the crowd burst out laughing, the vice president laughed at the absurdity of the moment as well, saying, “And that’s so that’s the kind of guy and my fellow Republicans that we have as the President of the United States.” The vice president then weighed in on the United States’ successful attack on Iranian nuclear sites, saying, “Not only did we destroy the Iranian nuclear program, we did it with zero American casualties, and that’s what happened.”
Continuing his speech, Vice President Vance explained that the Trump Administration had a very specific foreign policy agenda, which he called the “Trump Doctrine.” He explained, “What I call the Trump Doctrine is quite simple: Number one, you articulate a clear American interest, and that’s, in this case, that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Building on his point, the vice president explained the other keys to the Trump Doctrine: “Number two, you try to aggressively diplomatically solve that problem. And number three, when you can’t solve it diplomatically, you use overwhelming military power to solve it, and then you get the hell out of there before it ever becomes a protracted conflict.”
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When conservative influencer and journalist Eric Daugherty posted a clip of Vice President Vance’s hilarious antidote, he called it “hilarious,” and conservatives cracked up along with him in the comments section. The X user Shane Connor said, “He’s actually a hilarious dude, apart from being a great leader.” Another user chimed in, “That’s the kind of humor AND confidence we need in the White House.”
Watch VP Vance Tell His Story:
Featured Image Credit: Video Screengrab