White House Press Pool Reports
@WHPressPool
VP Travel Report #1 - Switzerland - Wheels up and brief gaggle โ๏ธ
Good afternoon from Joint Base Andrews. After a delayed start, Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance are traveling today to Switzerland, where peace talks with Iran are expected to take place near Lucerne.
The Vice President spoke to reporters before boarding and said it was his understanding the Iranians had just landed in Switzerland and that they would likely have a โcouple days of talks.โ
โI can only be there for a day or two. I think we're going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue. Those are the two big things that I think we're to be focused on. I'm sure the Iranians are going to have issues they'd like to discuss as well,โ Vance said.
Asked about the fighting in Lebanon threatening to upend the diplomatic process, the Vice President said, โThings are actually getting better there, and things are slowing down a little bit.โ
โMarco and the entire team have been actively managing what's going on in Lebanon. Despite the headlines, things are actually getting better there, and things are slowing down a little bit. It's going to be something we're just going to have to continuously manage to ensure that you know Israel and Lebanon are both safe and secure. That's fundamentally the goal of this, to make the whole region safe and secure. The big problem is that you have somebody will shoot and then somebody will respond, and you kind of have a chicken and egg problem where you've just got to stop the shooting for long enough to get the ceasefire to keep hold, that's what we're going to try to do,โ Vance said.
The VP and Second Lady were wheels up at 4:19pm ET. They are in a Gulfstream C-37, which is a smaller plane than the typical mode of transportation for the Vice President. Per a VP spokesman, they are using this plane because it was available more quickly than the plane he typically travels on.
Your press pool will travel separately from the Vice President and we are expected to take off later tonight.
Here is the recording of the gaggle:
https://otter.ai/u/0YoLiTuO3M8Fk60u1pAJ91XIY00
Kate Sullivan
Bloomberg News
Sat. Jun. 20, 4:29 PM
4:39 PM ยท Jun 20, 2026
https://x.com/WHPressPool/status/2068433649435898237