Trump orders Vance to drop his work on Iran deal and focus only on finding corruption

Donald Trump has instructed Vice President JD Vance to abandon diplomatic negotiations with Iran and focus exclusively on investigating alleged corruption in Democratic-led states and cities.In a series of Truth Social posts early Thursday morning, the president signaled that the administration was closing the door on a diplomatic settlement with Tehran. “We don't need a deal with Iran,” Trump wrote. “Those days have long since passed. We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!" Following the announcement, oil prices rose and stocks declined as markets reacted to renewed uncertainty surrounding the conflict, according to Axios.The directive marks an abrupt shift for Vance, who has spent months leading U.S. negotiating delegations to secure a ceasefire and resume nuclear talks. Just days ago, the vice president had been weighing direct discussions with senior Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.In a Truth Social post Thursday morning, President Donald Trump instructed Vice President JD Vance to abandon diplomatic negotiations with Iran. He ordered Vance, instead, to focus on investigating alleged corruption in Democratic-led cities and states (Getty)The move comes days after Vance publicly broke with Trump over the war’s political toll. Vance, who has long been skeptical of U.S. military interventions, attributed the Republican Party's recent midterm election losses — which cost the GOP control of Congress — directly to the war and its effect on the cost of living."The reason we lost is the war," Vance wrote on X last week. "If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost."Trump has maintained that the military campaign was necessary and said he would not have handled it differently. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told his G7 counterparts in Paris that the president had opted against resuming military action or pursuing a deal, choosing instead to focus on isolating the Iranian regime, according to Axios.Moving forward, Vance will pivot entirely to his role as chair of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a body Trump established by executive order earlier this year.The president's announcement aligns with recent remarks from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who told G7 leaders that the White House has opted to isolate the Iranian regime rather than pursue a diplomatic settlement (Reuters)"I have asked Vice President Vance to focus his complete and total attention on the Massive Corruption and Crime taking place in Democrat run Cities and States throughout the U.S.," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The Blue States, such as Minnesota, California, Illinois, and many more, are all poorly run, corrupt disasters. Billions of Dollars is being stolen each and every month. Our Budget could be quickly BALANCED with the correction of this large scale criminal activity. CORRUPTION is in the Democrat Leadership's blood!"Trump has repeatedly characterized Democratic-run cities as centers of crime and fraud during his administration's federal crackdowns, though crime statistics have not consistently supported those claims.The president's Thursday morning posts also appeared to respond to incoming House Oversight Committee Chairman Robert Garcia, who recently warned administration officials and corporate executives to "lawyer up" ahead of planned Democratic investigations into Trump's business dealings and immigration enforcement, according to Mediaite.Oil prices jumped and stocks fell after the president declared that the US no longer needs an agreement with Tehran (AFP/Getty)Beginning shortly before 6 a.m., Trump accused "CORRUPT AND EVIL" Democrats — whom he described as "the most Corrupt and anti-American groups of political leaders and hacks" — of targeting his administration to distract from "TREMENDOUS & UNPRECEDENTED" fraud in their own states.“If the Democrats want to 'root out corruption,' they should start with investigating Blue States, perhaps the most CORRUPT governmental structures and entities anywhere on Earth,” Trump wrote in a follow-up post. “Big time money is being stolen each and every hour of the day!”Elsewhere on Truth Social Thursday morning, Trump threatened new tariffs on Mexico and criticized Senate Republicans for failing to pass the Save America Act, calling the failure "devastating" to the party's midterm performance.The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.