Jesse Watters Asks JD Vance Point-Blank Whether US Will Repeat Past War Mistakes In Iran

Fox News’ Jesse Watters pressed Vice President JD Vance on Monday about whether the United States risks repeating the drawn-out wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The United States launched targeted military strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran on Saturday after diplomatic talks collapsed, with President Donald Trump announcing in a Truth Social video that the “massive and ongoing” Operation Epic Fury is hitting Tehran’s military and nuclear infrastructure. Appearing on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Vance faced questions about whether the conflict risked repeating past mistakes.

“After Iraq and Afghanistan, some people say, ‘Here we go again.’ Is that something here you’re thinking about?” Watters asked.

“Well, Jesse, if you think back to Afghanistan, 20 years of mission creep, 20 years of not having a clear objective and 20 years of the United States trying to bring liberal democracy to Afghanistan. Iraq was a little bit shorter, but we were still in that country for nearly a decade with no clear mission, no clear definition,” Vance responded. “What’s so different about this, Jesse, is that the president has clearly defined what he wants to accomplish.”

Vance argued that Trump would not commit U.S. forces to an open-ended war. Unlike prior administrations, Vance said, the president refuses to send troops into conflict without a precise objective and a defined endpoint.

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“I said this before the conflict started. I’ll repeat it again. There’s just no way Donald Trump is going to allow this country to get into a multi-year conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective,” Vance noted. “What is different about President Trump and it’s frankly different about both Republicans and Democrats of the past, is that he’s not going to let his country go to war unless there’s a clearly defined objective. He’s defined that objective as Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and has to commit long term to never trying to rebuild a nuclear capability.”

Trump and his administration have repeatedly stressed that a central objective of Operation Epic Fury is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to cripple its ability to threaten the U.S. and its allies with missile and drone capabilities. Senior officials have defined the operation’s aims as dismantling Iran’s offensive military capacities and ensuring Tehran cannot project power that “we can’t tolerate,” including ballistic missiles and drones, tying those goals directly to Trump’s broader goal of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.

Following the launch of Operation Epic Fury, former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the strikes, saying they conflict with the “America First” and non-interventionist promises that powered the MAGA movement. (RELATED: Matt Walsh Goes On Tear Against Iran Strikes — White House Rushes To Defend)

“We said ‘No More Foreign Wars, No More Regime Change!’ We said it on rally stage after rally stage, speech after speech. Trump, [Vice President JD] Vance, basically the entire admin campaigned on it and promised to put America FIRST and Make America Great Again,” Greene wrote in a lengthy Saturday X post.

The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh also accused his fellow conservatives of scrambling to justify the strikes by suddenly claiming Iran has waged war on the U.S. for decades. He said that inconsistent explanations about regime change, nuclear threats and broader objectives have created confusion among supporters who expected a restrained, clearly defined foreign policy.

“I can’t take the gaslighting, guys. I really can’t. Conservatives are now running around saying ‘Iran has been waging war on us for 47 years.’ Okay then why didn’t any of you call for an attack on Iran at any point until now? Why didn’t you make a case for Trump ‘ending the war, not starting it’ until precisely the moment when Trump did it? You and I both know that you are latching onto a talking point you never used until 45 seconds ago,” Walsh wrote in an X post Monday.

Meanwhile, Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie said Saturday that he opposes the military action, writing on X that the war is “not ‘America First.’” He said he will partner with Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna to force a congressional vote on Iran, arguing the Constitution requires lawmakers’ approval before the U.S. enters a war.

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