JD Vance has defended Donald Trump regarding his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The vice president also spoke out about Trump’s recent controversial remark. Vance’s latest comments come amid the promotional tour for his new book.
JD Vance discusses the Jeffrey Epstein files with ‘The View’ hosts
JD Vance appeared on The View on Tuesday, June 16, to promote his latest memoir, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith. During the interview, the vice president faced a relentless probe on a variety of topics, including President Donald Trump’s recent controversial statement and his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Vance confessed that he is “frankly, kind of a conspiracy [theorist],” when questioned about the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, in reference to the allegations made by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in her December 2025 interview with Vanity Fair.
“I think that it’s crazy that you have this guy who was clearly a sex predator, who was hanging out with a lot of very wealthy and powerful people,” Vance said. “Nobody knows exactly what happened unless you were there, but that really bothered me,” he added.
Vance went on to defend Trump’s association with the late financier and convicted sex offender. “I know you guys don’t always appreciate this, but, you know, one of the things you see in the Epstein emails is that Jeffrey Epstein hated Donald Trump,” the VP said.
At one point, The View host Ana Navarro asked Vance about Trump’s recent eyebrow-raising statement about the latest inflation numbers. Speaking with the reporters in the Oval Office earlier this month, Trump said, “No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why? Because as soon as this war is over … When the war is over, it’s coming down, it’s going to come down like a rock.”
Addressing the comment, Vance tweaked it a little, saying, “What he said is that he loves the fact that inflation is going to come down when this war is over.” However, hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar were quick to question the changes he made to the original statement, with the former noting, “That’s not what he said.”
Amid the grilling, Vance jokingly protested, “Let’s talk about the book. I’m here to sell books, please!”
