Former military journalist JD Vance got his history mixed up while trying to explain President Trump’s newest approach to ending the conflict in Ukraine.
Speaking to Kristen Welker on Meet the Press Sunday, the vice president vigorously defended Trump’s push to end the war through give-and-take negotiations—rather than the sanctions and ceasefire demands he once leveled at Vladimir Putin.
Vance turned to the Second World War to illustrate why concessions and diplomacy were so vital in ending major conflicts—but seemingly forgot that the war ended due to unconditional surrender.
JD Vance: “This is how wars ultimately get settled. If you go back to World War 2, if you go back to every major conflict in human history, they all end with some kind of negotiation.” pic.twitter.com/FB4VJgljG5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 24, 2025
“We’re engaging in this diplomatic process in good faith. We’re trying to negotiate as much as we can with both the Russians and the Ukrainians to find a middle ground to stop the killing,” he told the NBC News host, adding that the conflict was “not in anyone’s interests.”
Welker later brought up the concern that Ukraine was expected to accept the loss of territory illegally seized by the Russians to end the war, which President Volodymyr Zelensky has made clear he has no interest in doing.
“First of all, the Ukrainians are going to ultimately make the determination about where you draw the territorial lines in their own country,” Vance responded.
After sidestepping the implications of Ukraine having to make territorial concessions, Vance then suggested that finding “middle ground” was “how wars ultimately get settled.”
He outlined, “If you go back to World War Two, if you go back to World War One. If you go back to every major conflict in human history, they all end with some kind of negotiation.”
Unfortunately for Vance, the Second World War was not brought to an end, but came to a close with the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 7, 1945, and Japan on September 2, 1945.
“Vance says WWII ended in negotiation -someone tell that to Hiroshima,” one user wrote on X.
Vance during the interview also described the US’ new role as being “not active parties in the negotiation, we’re effectively mediating.”
He added, “If Ukrainians are willing to say something on territory that brings the conflict to a close, we’re not going to stop them. We’re also not going to force them, because it’s not our country.”
Setting history aside, the emphasis on mediation—and the hint that Ukraine may need to cut its losses to end the conflict—marks a striking about-face from Trump’s harder line just days earlier.
Trump met with Putin in Alaska on August 15, and failed to secure a ceasefire despite initially stating that the Russian President could expect “severe consequences” if he didn’t agree to end the fighting in Ukraine.
The post JD Vance Mocked for Embarrassing WWII History Mistake appeared first on The Daily Beast.
