Vice President JD Vance on Saturday described President Donald Trump’s approach to running his team as having a “Marine Corps style” of leadership, but also acknowledged on air that Trump did not serve in the armed forces — a remark that reignited debate over the president’s military record.
Vance made the comment during an interview with Lara Trump on her Fox News program "My View with Lara Trump," when the host asked whether lessons from his Marine Corps service still inform his work in Washington. "In ways big and small, actually," Vance said, before pivoting to praise the president. "It would not have shocked me if I had learned, after knowing him, that your father-in-law was in the Marine Corps. Of course, he didn’t serve in the Marines, but he has a Marine Corps style of leadership, where he’s very willing to delegate and he trusts certain people." He added that Trump sets clear directives, checks in and then lets subordinates execute.
Vance served in the Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007 and worked as a military journalist, including a deployment to Iraq in 2005. His on-air acknowledgement that Trump did not serve — and his invocation of a "Marine Corps style" — drew swift reaction on social media, where critics recalled the longtime scrutiny of Trump’s avoidance of military service during the Vietnam era. Some posts pointed to Trump’s diagnosis of bone spurs and multiple draft deferments, which have been questioned and debated throughout his public life, while other commentators defended Vance’s assessment and argued that the president’s decisiveness and delegation resembled military leadership qualities.
Trump attended the New York Military Academy as a youth but did not enlist in the armed forces. The history of his draft deferments and the bone-spurs diagnosis have been a recurring issue in political coverage and criticism dating back decades.
The exchange also highlighted broader tensions between Trump and senior military figures who have served in his administrations. Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, who was White House chief of staff during Trump’s first term, has publicly criticized the president’s conduct, calling him "certainly an authoritarian" in a 2024 interview with The New York Times. Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who served as Trump’s first-term secretary of defense, told The Atlantic in 2020 that Trump was the first president in his lifetime who did not try to unite the country and instead sought to divide it.
Vance’s comments came as his role as vice president keeps him in close public association with the president, a dynamic that often draws scrutiny over policy choices and personal conduct. The on-air moment underscored how questions about military service and leadership style remain politically salient for both supporters and critics, resurfacing familiar lines of debate about what qualifications and characteristics matter in national leadership.
The interview aired Sept. 6, 2025, on Fox News. Vance’s remarks were part of a wider conversation about leadership, loyalty and the image of authority that Trump projects, topics that have repeatedly surfaced in coverage of his political career and presidency.