A preview of JD Vance's vice presidency: Loyalty, trust and a 'hammer' for Trump

JD Vance is expected to tackle whatever Trump assigns him as vice president, with immigration being a key area of interest.

In the memoir that made him famous, JD Vance practically apologized for the book’s existence, writing that he had “accomplished nothing great” in his life — “certainly nothing that would justify a complete stranger paying money to read about it.”

Nearly a decade later, Vance, now 40, is the vice president-elect and potential heir to a political movement that has realigned the Republican Party. 

History will remember him for more than “Hillbilly Elegy,” his bestseller that was made into a movie. What for, exactly, depends on the path Vance charts when President-elect Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office — and if it leads to his one day calling that office his own.

Vance, a first-term senator from Ohio, has said little about his vision for the vice presidency other than to mention a few areas of policy interest, like immigration. As a candidate, he stuck faithfully to Trump’s script, filling in the blanks when necessary but rarely overstepping the man whose endorsement lifted him out of a crowded GOP primary in 2022. 

Those who have watched his rapid ascension expect that dynamic to continue, even if and when Vance prepares to run for president in 2028. Allies of Trump and Vance believe loyalty is Vance’s greatest attribute and his smartest play for the short-term future of their administration and for his longer-term political future.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/jd-vance/jd-vance-vice-presidency-trump-rcna179687

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