JD Vance sits down for an exclusive interview with White House correspondent Francesca Chambers to discuss his first 200 days as vice president.

On a special episode (first released on August 28, 2025) of The Excerpt podcast: The vice president sat down with USA TODAY White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers to talk about issues both controversial and mundane.

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here

Dana Taylor:

Hello, and welcome to a special episode of USA TODAY's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Vice President JD Vance has now been in office a little over seven months, a heartbeat away from the most powerful office in the world. While President Trump is the oldest to take office at the White House, Vance is one of the youngest to be second in line for the presidency.

Recent news has embroiled the White House in controversy, from the President's power to shape the Federal Reserve, to deploying the National Guard to American Cities. What's his take on all of it? And is he planning a run in 2028?

USA TODAY White House correspondent Francesca Chambers recently sat down with the vice president in an exclusive interview to explore these questions and more. Francesca now joins us to share her takeaways from the conversation. Thanks for joining me, Francesca.

Francesca Chambers:

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

Dana Taylor:

As you noted in your interview, President Trump is the oldest president to be sworn into office, eclipsing Biden by a few months. Vance is one of the youngest vice presidents to be second in command, and is just a heartbeat away from the most powerful political office in the world.

There've been two assassination attempts on President Trump, both before he even won the election and took office. What did Vance tell you when you asked him how he feels about stepping in for Trump if needed?

Francesca Chambers:

This is always a critical question, Dana, for vice presidents of the United States, is whether or not they're ready to be Commander in Chief if they have to take on that role. And as you noted, he's someone who is expected to run for president in 2028 himself.

And he said that he's gotten a lot of good job training over the last 200 days, but also he says the president's in incredibly good health and has great energy. Let's listen to more of what he said to me.

JD Vance:

Yes, things can always happen, yes, terrible tragedies happen, but I feel very confident the President of the United States is in good shape, is going to serve out the remainder of his term and do great things for the American people. And if, God forbid, there's a terrible tragedy, I can't think of better on the job training than what I've gotten over the last 200 days.

Dana Taylor:

As you said, Francesca, there's been a lot of speculation about Vance possibly running for president in 2028. What did he tell you here?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, that's not something that he's wanted to comment on, especially just a little over 200 days into his vice presidency. But I asked him what his wife, Usha, thinks about all of this. He responded much in the way that he often responds and says that like him, she's focused on the job that they're doing right now. And he said, if that door opens later on, then we can figure it out.

I also asked him, Dana, about the privacy that the Naval Observatory affords. He's been open about that in the past because he has three young children. Now, he said, of course, it would have challenges for his family life if he were to run for president.

But he was quick to note that he also sees upsides and benefits for his kids to this new role that he's already taken on in the public spotlight. He says that they have been able to travel the country and see through different perspectives, and he said that they'll just keep trying to do a good job as moms and dads as well.

Dana Taylor:

Let's dig into Trump's recent firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Cook and her lawyers contend that this was illegal and that there was no mortgage fraud, the alleged reason for her removal. What was Vance's response here?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, she notably has not been charged with a crime or convicted of a crime, and the vice president said that she had potentially made a criminal mistake, and they thought that that was enough to remove her from the Federal Reserve Board. But the thing that he really pressed was that whether or not it ended up being criminal, what they determined was whether or not the president can or can't fire her. And he argued that he does have the legal right to fire her off of the Federal Reserve Board. So, that was his argument about that.

But the other thing that he said, and this was really key, was that if the American people disagree with a president on a matter like this, then they can, of course, throw the president out after four years and put in a new president. Now, President Trump is on his second term and he constitutionally cannot have a third term. And as we've talked about before, it could be JD Vance who pays the political consequences for moves like this.

Dana Taylor:

Now, I'd like to turn to the issue of the deployment of the National Guard, previously in Los Angeles to address protests over immigrant deportations, currently in D.C. to address a crime level that Trump called, quote, "embarrassing" and maybe soon in Chicago also to address crime. What was the vice president's take on these somewhat controversial moves?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, Dana, I had explicitly asked him if this is how the White House plans to fight crime, by having National Guard deployments in major American cities such as Chicago, as well as Baltimore, and here's what the vice president had to say in response to that question.

JD Vance:

The president said a couple of times in the past couple of days that he really wants this process to be driven by the local authorities here, whether it's the state government or the local mayors. And I think that makes a lot of sense.

Look, we don't want to go in where we're unwelcome. There's a political reason because what might very well happen is that these people, mayors or local governors stand up and say, "We don't want the National Guard. This is a dictatorship. Trump is a fascist, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

But we don't want people to stand up before a press conference and accuse the president of being a fascist, accuse the National Guard of being part of some dictatorial coup, when in private, they're actually thanking us for bringing law and order back to these communities.

Dana Taylor:

Let's talk about another contentious political issue that's recently made national headlines, which is gerrymandering. Which states have been at the center of recent controversy and what did the vice president have to say on this issue?

Francesca Chambers:

So this began in Texas where the GOP wanted to net approximately five seats and then it moved on to California, with Governor Gavin Newsom fighting back with his own redistricting plan. Then we saw Vice President JD Vance go to Indiana to try and convince legislators there, who are Republicans, to pass their own mid-decade redistricting plan. Those legislators then came to the White House earlier in the week and Vice President Vance met with them.

So I asked in his interview whether or not he's spoken to any other states about this, specifically Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as well as Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, and of course, his home state governor, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.

He said that he hadn't spoken to DeSantis about it at all, although he said he thought he'd quote, unquote, "do the right thing in Florida" on the redistricting question. He also said he hadn't talked to Mike DeWine about it recently and that he also hadn't spoken to Missouri's governor about it either.

Dana Taylor:

You also spoke with the vice president about his and President Trump's contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy back in February, which was followed by a much more civil meeting in August. A ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine continues to be elusive. What did he tell you here?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, to say it was contentious, he told me, was putting it mildly, but he did say that he thought that it actually elucidated some real issues of disagreement between the Ukrainian side and the United States. But then he started talking about former President Joe Biden's administration, and he said that that's where his real frustrations lie.

JD Vance:

What always really bothered me about this relationship was not the Ukrainians as much as it was the American side, specifically the Democratic administration of Joe Biden. Zelenskyy would come to Washington, he'd leave with $50 million, or sorry, $50 billion or $100 billion without any real goal, any real diplomacy, any real sense of what we were going to buy with that $100 billion.

And that was always what frustrated me far more than Zelenskyy was asking for help from Washington, it was that the Biden administration had no plan for how to end the war, no real credible theory for how giving another $100 billion would solve the problem.

Francesca Chambers:

Now, he noted after that that they've had good conversations since that February blowup, and he said that, we're, quote, "pretty aligned with President Zelenskyy," end quote, on many of the issues. But now he said, what's best for everyone in the situation, including the United States, is to bring the war to a peaceful end.

Dana Taylor:

Francesca, you also asked Vice President Vance about the rollout of a rebranding campaign by this White House for what Trump has called the "big beautiful bill." Why are Republicans so worried about the bill's reception among voters? And what does this rebranding entail?

Francesca Chambers:

The bill has been hit by the administration's critics for the fact that it cuts healthcare for roughly 10 million people. Now, the vice president said that it was good when the bill was passed to name it that One Big Beautiful Bill. But he said, "Now they have to actually explain what's in it for the American people." And he highlighted parts of it, such as no tax on overtime, no tax on tips, as well as a child tax credit expansion.

This also really highlights a role that the vice president has taken on in the first 200 days of the administration, which is to be the president's explainer in chief of his economic policies. He went on in the answer to talk about how businesses that move their businesses overseas will be punished and those who bring them back will be rewarded. And he brought that into context of the president's tariffs.

Dana Taylor:

And finally, I have to ask you about the biggest news of the past few days, which was about the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift engagement. How did he respond?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, he was ready, I think, for that question in the interview, because as you noted, it was such big news, and the president had even been asked about it in a cabinet meeting ahead of the interview. But what he said was that he's a romantic at heart, that he wishes them the best, and congratulates them in hopes that they have a happy life together.

But one thing he said he doesn't want to see here, in his words, was the NFL putting a thumb on the scale for the Kansas City Chiefs just because Kelce is now getting married to what he described as the most famous woman in the world. He says he doesn't want to see a Super Bowl wedding this season.

Dana Taylor:

Folks who are interested can watch the full interview with Vice President JD Vance on usatoday.com. We'll have a link in the show notes. Thanks so much for being on The Excerpt, Francesca.

Francesca Chambers:

Thanks so much for featuring this.

Dana Taylor:

Thanks for watching. I'm Dana Taylor. I'll see you next time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Takeaways from USA TODAY’s exclusive sit-down with Vice President JD Vance | The Excerpt

Reporting by Dana Taylor and Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect