The Wall Street Journal was out with a piece late on Thursday night with quite the opening, with claims that Vice President JD Vance said that the United States would hit Moscow with sanctions and possibly even military action if Russia's Vladimir Putin wouldn't agree to a peace deal. The headline communicated the same, "Vance Wields Threat of Sanctions, Military Action to Push Putin Into Ukraine Deal." The Vice President's office is disputing that, though, pointing to the transcript of the interview.
The piece begins with that stunning claim, also seeking to seemingly portray the Trump administration in disarray over the matter:
PARIS—Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. would hit Moscow with sanctions and potentially military action if Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that guarantees Kyiv’s long-term independence.
Vance said the option of sending U.S. troops to Ukraine if Moscow failed to negotiate in good faith remained “on the table,” striking a far tougher tone than did Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who on Wednesday suggested the U.S. wouldn’t commit forces.
Vance said the U.S. could pursue a range of measures, giving President Trump ample negotiating flexibility with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The original post from the WSJ on X has been hit with a ratio of hundreds of replies as well as Community Notes from the vice president's staff.
William Martin who serves as the communications director for Vance, posted a quoted repost disputing the WSJ piece, including the transcript in the process.
"This is pure fake news," Martin posted, speaking of the WSJ piece, as he offered users the chance to "Compare the transcript." As he also added, "The Vice President didn’t make any threats. He simply stated the fact that no one is going to take options away from President Trump as these negotiations begin."
The Community Notes references Martin's post, adding, "JD Vance made no explicit pledge to either sanctions or military actions. A copy of the transcript is included in the linked tweet."
This is pure fake news. Compare the transcript of @JDVance's conversation with WSJ to the headline being run here.
— William Martin (@wsmartin218) February 14, 2025
The Vice President didn’t make any threats. He simply stated the fact that no one is going to take options away from President Trump as these negotiations begin. https://t.co/OSOo7ECBqr pic.twitter.com/MiAynLJZsi
As that transcript read:
Q: Is there a sense as to what is the stick for Putin? I mean, obviously any kind of deal would have to entail an implicit threat that you have to stick to this or else you have to even sign on the dotted line. Is there any pressure that you're thinking of?
Vice President Vance: I think certainly look there, there are instruments of pressure, absolutely and again, if you look at President Trump's approach to this, the range of options is extremely broad, and there are economic tools of leverage. There, of course, military tools of leverage. There's a whole host of things that we could do. But fundamentally, I think the President wants to have a productive negotiation, both with Putin and with Zelensky.
Q: So just want to make sure I understand you correctly. You're saying that even though the possibility of a Ukraine NATO accession at the end of this process, or even the presence of U.S. troops in Ukraine is not officially off the table?
Vice President Vance: I think the President has been very clear that he doesn't like the idea of moving Ukraine into NATO. He's been very clear about that. I also think the President is very clear that whenever he walks in a negotiation, everything is on the table.
Notice how the vice president stressed the idea of focusing on negotiations. "But fundamentally, I think the President wants to have a productive negotiation, both with Putin and with Zelensky," is a key line there. Earlier this week, Trump spoke with both Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.
It's also been a tactic, and a smart one, of the Trump administration to not advertise our nation's foreign policy plans, hence what seems to be purposefully vague language from Vance. That being said, he never mentioned sanctions or sending in troops, so it's at best a stretch to say he was "wield[ing]" any such threats.
Others have also come after WSJ on X with replies to their sharing of the piece as well as screenshots.
Holy crap. Read the headline Wall Street Journal printed next to the actual transcript of the interview with @JDVance. This is one of the most intentionally dishonest things I've seen in a long time. When Did @WSJ turn into the Huffington Post? pic.twitter.com/9J8TuzwFmv
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) February 14, 2025
Wow, the WSJ has fallen so far. This is sad. Traditional journalism is dead. Do they even teach it in school anymore?
— Maria Gentry (@qued3point14) February 14, 2025
This is what was actually said: pic.twitter.com/mPUnJ20UgG
Request a community note everyone. This is a blatant lie.
— John 🇺🇸 (@John_Redacted_) February 14, 2025
This is a blatant lie. Read the transcript. He never said troops. This is why the WSJ is a pure Democrat propaganda machine.
— Kate (@kate_p45) February 14, 2025
Do better pic.twitter.com/evVLHb4qCI
— DeploraGhoul (@nowens17) February 14, 2025
Around the same time that the Community Notes context was added, Vance himself weighed in with a quoted repost of Andrew Surabian, emphasizing President Donald Trump's strengths and his role in the negotiations. "President Trump is the ultimate deal maker and will bring peace to the region by ending the war in Ukraine. As we've always said, American troops should never be put into harm's way where it doesn’t advance American interests and security. This war is between Russia and Ukraine," the vice president posted, also making clear his opposition to needless wars.
"The fact that the WSJ twisted my words in the way they did for this story is absurd, but not surprising considering they have spent years pushing for more American sons and daughters in uniform to be unnecessarily deployed overseas," Vance added in another post, further driving his point home.
The interview took place while Vance was in Europe this week. He also spoke at the the Munich Security Conference, with his remarks there having been trending on X as he's criticized Europe for free speech concerns and for his warnings about internal threats to the continent.
The fact that the WSJ twisted my words in the way they did for this story is absurd, but not surprising considering they have spent years pushing for more American sons and daughters in uniform to be unnecessarily deployed overseas.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 14, 2025
Join the conversation as a VIP Member