The vice president also defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from recent criticism.
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Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he couldn’t predict when the fighting with Iran would end or when gas would return to $3 a gallon.
President Donald Trump originally said the war, which began Feb. 28, would last four to six weeks. In July, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he hoped gasoline could average $3 a gallon nationwide by Labor Day.
Vance, speaking to reporters, argued that the U.S. stopped conducting major combat operations months ago and the current conflict no longer amounted to a war.
“You’re asking me a question like, ‘When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships?’” Vance said at a White House press briefing. “The reality is I don’t know the answer to that question. You’d have to ask the Iranians.”
Vance argued that Iran’s power to hold world oil markets hostage is diminishing as tanker traffic resumes through the strait’s southern shipping lane farthest from Iran. A handful of vessels now cross the waterway per day, compared to a prewar daily average of about 100, according to ship-tracking company Kpler.
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Vance said negotiations are on hold until Iran stops attacking ships. “We’re not talking to them,” he said.
On gas prices, he said, “I’m not going to make a promise about when it’s going to return to three dollars.”
Vance also defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from criticism from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who left his job Thursday and is a close friend of Vance’s.
“Pete is also a very good friend of mine, and I think he’s an amazing secretary of war,” Vance said, using the administration’s preferred title for the defense secretary.
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