Former Trump staffer: Vance ‘set up’ as ‘fall guy’ for Iran deal

Administration Former Trump staffer: Vance ‘set up’ as ‘fall guy’ for Iran deal Comments: by Finya Swai - 07/10/26 9:39 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 07/10/26 9:39 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Caroline Sunshine, who served as an aide to President Trump during his first term, suggested Thursday that Vice President Vance was set up to take the blame for the failed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran.

“I think we know now why JD Vance was sent out to go sell the MOU, and at the time, Marco Rubio was nowhere to be found,” Sunshine, also a former Disney Channel star, said during an appearance on CNN’s “NewsNight.”

She noted Vance gave a string of media interviews to sell the deal after it was released to the public last month, appearing on “The View,” HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” and a podcast by The New York Times, among other programs.

“JD Vance was doing interview after interview after interview, going out and selling this deal, and Marco Rubio was, like, what? DJing a wedding, or something?” she said.

“He was nowhere to be found, because as we’ve now seen, Vance, I think, was set up to be, you know, the fall guy for this,” Sunshine added.

The U.S. released the text of the MOU in June as a framework aimed at ending the war with Iran and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime corridor through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows.

The deal has since unraveled as hostilities between the nations resumed earlier this week, including retaliatory strikes. The U.S. carried out attacks against Iran in response to Tehran’s targeting of shipping vessels in the strait.

During the CNN panel discussion, Sunshine argued Iran had shifted its focus in the conflict from military operations to disrupting the global economy.

“[Iran] has figured out what we have not figured out, which is that this is an economic war. This war does not have a military solution,” she continued. “We’ve exhausted all the good military options.”

The ex-Trump staffer then referenced comments made by the president, who said he feared triggering an economic downturn and becoming like former President Herbert Hoover, who has historically been blamed for the Great Depression.

“What Iran has figured out is that war is about studying your opponent, and they’ve studied President Trump very well,” she told CNN’s Abby Phillip.

Sunshine added, “And what they’ve learned is…‘That’s a really nice stock market you’ve got there. It would be a shame if anything happened to it.’”