On Being Counter-Factual

By: Larry Gordon

Last week, Vice President JD Vance said that President Donald Trump and the United States are the only world leader and country that support the State of Israel at this time.

It’s obvious and deeply unfortunate that these words and that concept emanate from the simplistic version of the Bible espoused by the formerly talented but now pathetic journalist, Tucker Carlson.

Vance is a Carlson sycophant who might be the last top official in the White House who is buying into the Carlson dogma that looks more like deep state mistruths and deceptions.

To me, it looks like President Trump has selected Vance to be the point man on the negotiations with Iran because the president has likely determined that this endeavor will ultimately be a colossal failure and the U.S. and Israel will eventually have no choice but to go to war again with Iran.

Taking a step back and trying to appreciate what is taking place from a distance, this foreign policy role would ordinarily be held by the Secretary of State, in this case it is Marco Rubio, who is nevertheless standing aside and silently letting this complex situation play out.

I believe that in all likelihood, Trump’s mindset is that the Iran negotiations are a dismal failure and will ultimately land in the lap of Mr. Vance.

So, this is the plan going forward. Keep Vance out there as the key player in the negotiations and just watch what unfolds. And we won’t have to wait too long. Last Friday, the first official scheduled meeting between the U.S. and Iran in Switzerland was cancelled at the behest of the Iranians. Vance was all packed and ready to go, but the Iranians threw him their first curveball, saying “Not so fast, buddy.” By Sunday, they were back on track.

For a U.S. president during times as difficult and as challenging as these, it’s imperative to anticipate your moves several steps ahead. It seems clear from comments made by Trump—and he’s been asked about it numerous times—that his choice for president after his term is over is either JD Vance or Rubio.

At this point it seems that Mr. Trump prefers Rubio as the next president for a number of reasons. Rubio, 55, is a seasoned Washington political professional. He served as a senator from Florida from 2011 to 2025 when Trump picked him as his next Secretary of State.

JD Vance, on the other hand, had an abbreviated senatorial career, having served as a senator from Ohio from 2023 to 2025. Vance, 41, is intelligent and articulate and a great spokesperson for the Trump administration, but in Trump’s mind, according to my opinion, Vance is not ready for the presidency. In fact, Vance does not have a history of being a pro-Trump politician. One thing we all know for sure is that Donald Trump never forgets.

To that end, in the past Vance has been very critical of Trump, even referring to him at one point as “noxious” and “unfit for our nation’s highest office.” Vance has since backtracked on those comments and while they may have gone away, Trump has not forgotten them. It just may be that to Trump the vice president is capable of being the point man in the Iran deal. In other words, he is expendable.

Let’s face it. Trump would prefer to position Rubio as the potential Republican candidate for president in 2028, but traditionally, it is the vice president who is usually the natural first pick in the order of succession. Be that as it may, how can Trump strategically skip over Vance to set up Rubio as his preferred candidate for 48th president of the U.S.?

It may be that this is how things turn out. Call it a guess or a prognostication, but frankly, how else can you explain the vice president taking the lead on such a critical foreign policy maneuver that under normal circumstances would be under the direction and control of the secretary of state?

For Trump, a move like this can only be a win-win. If this idea of peace with Iran and the expansion of the Abraham Accords works out, Trump will get all the credit. After all, it’s his administration that promoted this idea and from the get-go, it was his idea and the result of his drive, diligence, and initiative.

At this point, it looks like even Vance knows the plan with Iran is not going to work. The vice president might understand that the religious beliefs of the Iranians can only be fulfilled if Israel is destroyed and as many Jews as possible are murdered. That is their common denominator. Anything short of that would be a disappointment for the Mullahs.

Over the last weekend, there were ups and downs, highs and lows, the talks were on, then off, then up, then down, again and again. China plays a key role in whatever is going on over here. The Chinese buy 90% of their oil from Iran.

What the Chinese and the Iranians have most in common is their perpetual inability to tell the truth. The end result of these talks should conclude with an ironclad agreement that somehow Iran will never be allowed to have or produce nuclear weapons.

That brings us to the point at which the U.S. negotiators will agree to allow Iran to enrich uranium at some level, though not at a level high enough to produce nuclear weapons. The intrigue here is basically about allowing Iran to enrich uranium, which follows, should that occur, that Saudi Arabia will also insist on having the same capacity.

If the U.S. does not agree to this arrangement, it appears the Saudis might be telling the U.S. that they will go about their business of building a nuclear bomb with materials and know-how obtained from China rather than the U.S. This is an upper hand that Mr. Trump does not want to give the Chinese, which results in the urgency to achieve some kind of nuclear pact on what the U.S. is willing to allow Iran to produce.

In the meantime, the news that spills out from these talks seems to change not only daily, but hourly. Over the last few days, JD Vance was very critical of Israel and in particular of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Vance’s rhetoric took an about-face at his Monday morning news conference. Apparently, he received direction from the president to drop the Tucker Carlson verbiage and cease blaming Israel for everything that happens in that part of the world. That will limit Carlson to indulging in his hateful anti-Israel talk with just a few Israel haters like Candace Owens, Zohran Mamdani, etc.

On Monday, Vance talked assertively about Israel’s right to self-defense and the legitimacy of Israel’s right to maintain a presence in southern Lebanon until such time that the Hezbollah terrorists are dealt with.

This is only the beginning of an agreed-to 60-day period of talks that will hopefully lead to an agreement between the U.S. and Iran and all the murderous Iranian proxies.

It’s important to note that Vance is there to represent the U.S. and not Tucker Carlson, who apparently has serious journalistic and mental problems. Sometimes Vance’s speech leans in the Carlson direction, only to discover later that the White House is pulling him back into line.

For example, when Vance said that the U.S. and President Trump are the only country and world leader that are pro-Israel, that was Carlson-type gibberish. Vance quickly dropped that line of talk. There are quite a few large as well as smaller nations that are very much in favor of—and support—Israel. These include India, Argentina, Hungary, and some others.

For now, things are looking hopeful. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter