OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:51 AM – Friday, August 8, 2025
Vice President JD Vance commenced his holiday with a visit to the United Kingdom, where he was scheduled to meet with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. The trip, while personal in nature, carries diplomatic undertones, highlighting the ties between Washington, D.C., and London.
During the two-day trip, both officials took questions from the UK press in the drawing room of the illustrious, 115-room Chevening House in Kent, where Vance recounted his visit so far.
Vance mentioned how his exhausted children had fallen asleep on the floor, in addition to his family catching several fish in the nearby lake. During a casual fishing outing with Lammy, Vance quipped that although his children all caught fish, neither he nor Lammy did — humorously calling it “the one strain on the special relationship.”
Nonetheless, the press conversation quickly shifted to pressing global issues, such as the two countries’ personal takes on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Vance reiterated the United States’ position that it has “no plans to recognize a Palestinian state,” underscoring a firm stance in contrast to the United Kingdom’s recent declaration of intent to formally recognize Palestinian statehood.
The divergence in approach is expected to be a key point of discussion during Vance’s meeting with Lammy, as the two allies navigate increasingly complex dynamics in the Middle East and seek to maintain transatlantic alignment on matters of international diplomacy.
“I don’t know what it would mean to recognize a Palestinian state given the lack of a functional government there,” said Vance.
The American VP explained that the U.S. has two main goals regarding Palestine, which are “very simple.” He underscored the objective to eliminate Hamas’s ability to harm Israeli civilians, and to address the humanitarian aid crisis in Gaza, acknowledging challenging differences in approach between the U.S. and the UK.
Vance declined to comment on Israel’s military plans for Gaza, however.
“If it was easy to bring peace to that region of the world, it would have been done already,” Vance said, drawing the middle eastern conversation to a close.
When questioned about free speech across Europe, Vance expressed concerns about the UK’s increasing tendencies toward ultimate censorship, which is familiar to Americans who endured the former Biden administration.
Multiple investigations found that during the COVID‑19 pandemic, senior officials from the Biden administration pressured social media platforms, like Facebook (Meta) and YouTube, to remove or suppress content deemed “misinformation.” The “misinformation” were essentially opinions or even satire that was contrary to government messaging.
“I think the entire collective west, the transatlantic relationship, our NATO allies, certainly the United States under the Biden administration got a little too comfortable with censoring rather than engaging with a diverse array of opinions,” Vance stated, adding that he did not want other countries to go down the same “dark path” that the U.S. did under the previous administration.
Despite the transatlantic differences between the U.S. and the UK, Vance and Lammy appeared cordial and friendly as they recalled their previous interactions in Washington, D.C. They even expressed affection for each other’s countries and highlighted the long-standing and “special relationship” between the two nations — Britain and the U.S.
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