Vice President JD Vance has revealed his closest buddies in the Trump administration.
During an interview with Fox News Wednesday, Vance was asked about his closest allies, but initially seemed hesitant to respond, insisting he had “a lot” of good friends at work.
He explained his hesitance by saying that “the weird thing is, you say it’s one person and then fundamentally that’s an insult to other people.”
Eventually though he revealed his best friends at work are Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
“We are very close, we were close in the Senate, he’s been a great friend of mine, I think he’s doing a great job,” Vance said of Rubio.
And the feeling appears mutual. When Fox News host and presidential daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, asked Rubio last month whether he’d consider running for the White House again, he dodged and heaped praise onto Vance.
“I think JD Vance would be a great nominee,” Rubio said. “I think he’s doing a great job as vice president. He’s a close friend.”
Vance has previously said that he spends time with Rubio outside of the White House, and described him as “more impressive in private than he is in public” at the American Compass gala in June, according to Real Clear Politics.
President Trump also appears to have noticed the close friendship, suggesting that Vance and Rubio could run on the same ticket for the White House next time around. “I think Marco is also somebody that maybe would get together with JD in some form,” Trump said.
On Wednesday, Vance also spoke about his friendship with Hegseth, explaining they had just dined together at a burger joint in Washington.
The trio have also found themselves in hot water together during “Signalgate” earlier this year. The scandal erupted in March when Trump’s short-lived national security adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat in which top secret information about an upcoming bombing raid on Houthi rebels in Yemen was discussed. The group chat included Hegseth, Vance, Rubio, along with other top defense officials.
Since then, the Secretary of Defense has fired three of his top aides in relation to a Pentagon leak investigation over the disclosure of classified materials.
But on Wednesday, Vance insisted that Hegseth is doing a good job. “I think he’s doing a great job as Secretary of Defense,” Vance told Fox News.
The vice president went on to suggest that Hegseth’s controversies were a concerted effort by the “DC swamp” to undermine him.
“The DC Swamp tried to destroy Pete Hegseth unlike anybody in the administration,“ Vance added. “Whenever I see the worst people in the world trying to tear a guy down that makes me think he’s on our side.”
