Vance Iran, Orbán setbacks could threaten Trump successor status

President Donald Trump this month sent Vice President JD Vance to Hungary to boost its embattled prime minister and then to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran in hopes of ending the war the U.S. and Israel started.

Both trips ended with highly visible setbacks and some awkward moments, leading to questions about whether Vance’s political star is still rising or if he’s being saddled with some of the administration’s heaviest burdens.

Vance became the face of the U.S. delegation that last weekend failed to clinch a peace deal with Iran after a marathon 21-hour negotiating session in Islamabad. Tehran would not affirmatively commit to not seeking a nuclear weapon, Vance said.

The talks generated an unusual split-screen: As Vance delivered the news from the Pakistani capital that “we have not reached an agreement” with Iran, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were photographed together at a UFC fight in Miami.

“I think Trump is likely to play the two of them, and other candidates including [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis, as kind of a real-life ‘Apprentice’ show,” Marc Short, former chief of staff to Trump’s first-term VP Mike Pence, said in a phone interview.

Vance on Monday defended the Iran trip as worthwhile, telling Fox News, “I wouldn’t just say that things went wrong. I also think things went right.”

“We made a lot of progress” and laid out Trump’s terms for a deal, Vance said, while noting the rarity of U.S. and Iranian leaders meeting at such a high level.

A source familiar with the negotiations in Pakistan told CNBC on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks that the lengthy discussions exceeded the expectations of the U.S. team, who thought the trip would result in little more than brief table-setting talks.

White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement that Vance “continues to show why President Trump has tapped him to lead the Iran negotiations along with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.”

“His ability to take on some of the biggest challenges head-on makes him an invaluable member of the Administration full of top performers,” added Cheung, who had traveled to Islamabad with Vance.

The vice president’s office declined to comment for this story.

Days earlier, Vance had flown to Budapest to lend his support to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was facing a difficult reelection bid. Despite Vance’s two days on the ground, Orbán and his party lost.

Vance later said he knew there was a “good chance” that Orbán, who championed “illiberal democracy” as a right-wing populist, would lose. But he said the trip was…