Donald Trump’s vice-president has put his foot in his mouth for the second time in a week – and this time it’s people in the United Kingdom who are taking offence.

Only last week, Vance caused a row in a White House press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump, when he insisted that Mr Zelenskyy – who has thanked the United States many times for the aid it has provided to his country – was not grateful enough. What a buffoon.

Now, he has apparently insulted the UK’s military abilities, saying – well, the issue was discussed on today’s (Tuesday, March 4, 2025) BBC Politics Live show, so see and hear for yourself, along with the debate that followed:

Yes, it’s hard to imagine who else Vance could have been referencing – and people from the UK have responded sharply.

The BBC mentioned the following luminaries:

Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge pointed out both the UK and France deployed forces alongside the US in Afghanistan, adding: “It’s deeply disrespectful to ignore such service and sacrifice.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Vance was “wrong, wrong, wrong”, adding that the UK “stood by America” for 20 years in Afghanistan.

Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson Helen Maguire, a former captain in the Royal Military Police who served in Iraq, urged the UK’s ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, to call on Vance to apologise for the comments.

“JD Vance is erasing from history the hundreds of British troops who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan,” she said.

“I saw firsthand how American and British soldiers fought bravely together shoulder to shoulder. Six of my own regiment, the Royal Military Police, didn’t return home from Iraq. This is a sinister attempt to deny that reality.”

Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, a former British Army officer who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, said: “The disrespect shown by the new US vice-president to the sacrifices of our service personnel is unacceptable.”

Personally, I like the response from Another Angry Voice, which adds a certain perspective to the words above by pointing out the results of the UK’s foreign military adventures at the side of the States:

How could Vance just casually dismiss our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq like that?

Yes! Those wonderful success stories of a failed twenty year occupation before giving up and letting the Taliban take back over, and turning Iraq into the vast lawless terrorism breeding ground that gave rise to ISIS.

We’re living in remarkable times. Trump and Vance are ripping up the transatlantic alliance in front of our eyes, while the UK commentariat cry like babies that Britain isn’t being shown respect for past contributions to US imperialism.

The Angry Yorkshireman shares my own opinion of the Trump administration’s ambition in this matter:

Vance’s position on Ukraine is absurdly brazen. He’s trying to argue that Ukraine needs to let the US loot Ukraine’s resources in return for zero security guarantees, because if Ukraine’s resources become American-owned, they’d be inclined to defend them.

It’s obviously just a protection racket style resource grab, and in order for it to work they need to denigrate the idea of European nations continuing to bankroll Ukraine’s war with Russia.

It’s good that people are seeing this for what it is – and Trump and Vance for what they are.

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