Health care, abortion and Ukraine: How Vance has gotten ahead of Trump on policy
Since joining the Republican ticket, vice presidential nominee JD Vance has hit the ground running with campaign events and interviews, often dubbed a "policy attack dog" for former President Donald Trump's campaign.
But as Election Day approaches and both presidential candidates are pressed for details of how they'll carry out their agenda, Vance has been putting forth policy ideas for addressing some of the country's most pressing issues -- even though Trump has lacked the same clarity.
One of the most public examples of this occurred during the ABC News presidential debate when Trump did not commit to vetoing a national abortion ban after Vance had said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he would do so. Trump told the moderators he had not discussed the topic with Vance.
"Well, I didn't discuss it with JD, in all fairness," Trump said.
When the debate moderators asked Trump what his health care plan would look like, he said it was not fully developed yet.
"I have concepts of a plan," Trump said. "I'm not president right now, but if we come up with something, I would only change [Obamacare] if we come up with something that's better and less expensive."
Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press," if Vance could clarify the former president's plan, the Ohio senator went further on details, saying Trump would pursue a "deregulatory agenda."
"We want to make sure everybody is covered, but the best way to do that is to actually promote some more choice in our health care system and not have a one-size-fits-all approach that puts a lot of people into the same insurance pools, into the same risk pools, that actually makes it harder for people to make the right choices for their families."
On foreign policy, Vance, in alignment with Trump, has been critical of the United States' involvement in Ukraine and the billions of dollars of aid the country provided to Ukraine's war effort against Russia.
In a recent podcast interview, Vance laid out a potential approach a Trump administration would take in handling the Ukraine-Russia war, including creating a "demilitarized zone" in the parts of Ukraine that Russia has already taken over.
"So I think what this looks like is Trump sits down. He says to the Russians, the Ukrainians, the Europeans, 'you guys need to figure out what does a peaceful settlement look like,'" Vance said on the "Shawn Ryan Show" last week. "And what it probably looks like is something like the current line of demarcation between Russia and Ukraine. That becomes like a demilitarized zone. It's heavily fortified so the Russians don't invade again. Ukraine remains its independent sovereignty."
Vance also said the rest of Ukraine that Russia did not occupy would be a "sovereign state" and that Russia would get the "guarantee of neutrality."
"Russia gets the guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine. It doesn't join NATO, it doesn't join some of these sorts of allied institutions, and I think that's ultimately what this looks like."
Vance's suggested plan is the most specific policy outline the Trump campaign has offered regarding how it would handle the Ukraine-Russia war.
During the ABC News debate, Trump refused to answer if he wanted Ukraine to win its war against Russia when pressed twice. Instead, Trump said it would be in the country's best interest for the war to end and pushed for a deal to be negotiated, without offering specifics.
"I think it's in the U.S. best interest to get this war finished and just get it done," Trump said. "All right. Negotiate a deal. Because we have to stop all of these human lives from being destroyed."
Doug Heye, a GOP strategist, told ABC News that many could view Vance's actions as filling in the policy gaps in Trump's agenda.
"Trump isn't a series of policy proposals, he's an attitude," Heye told ABC News.
Referring to Trump saying during the ABC News debate that he had not discussed the issue of possibly vetoing a federal abortion ban with Vance, Heye said anyone close to the former president should prepare for him to possibly not have their backs.
"Anybody near Trump needs to be prepared for him to throw them under the bus. That's part and parcel of who he is. And I don't necessarily even say that as a criticism. It's just, you know, sort of fact," Heye said. "How much of this is freelancing versus planned? You know, we don't know, but that possibility is always there."
William Martin, a spokesperson for Vance, told ABC News in a statement that Vance and the former president aligned in their vision for the country.
"President Trump and Senator Vance are totally aligned in their America First policy vision, and JD always follows President Trump's lead on the issues," Martin told ABC News.
ABC News reached out to the Trump campaign for comment as well, but didn't hear back by the time of publication.
