Vance defends Trump administration as gas prices spike amid Iran war tensions

AUBURN HILLS — The vice president of the United States came to Michigan on Wednesday as part of a multistate swing to prop up his boss’ economic record — work that has become more difficult for the administration as consumers continue to face high prices on goods, especially with gas prices on the rise in the midst of a new Middle East war.

Despite those realities, U.S. Vice President JD Vance was upbeat about the state of manufacturing as he addressed Republicans from across southeast Michigan at an EDSI manufacturing facility in Auburn Hills.

President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, which have become a hallmark of his second term in office, were also on the list of perceived wins that Vance touted on Wednesday.

 “We eliminated a lot of the taxes that made it hard for us to invest in our communities,” Vance said. “We have a president of the United States who is willing to go to war against those foreign companies, and those foreign countries who are undercutting the wages of America’s workers. And that is how you get the results that we have seen just over the last 14 months.”

On that progress, Vance asserted that the second iteration of the Trump administration helped add thousands of more manufacturing jobs to Michigan, cut the previous administration’s electric vehicle manufacturing policies, and that by proxy, U.S. auto sales jumped 2% last year, up from 2019.

Vance also thanked U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township) for his help with the president’s agenda in Michigan. James is a Republican candidate for governor.

But the president’s posturing on electric vehicles and his tariff-heavy foreign economic policies have taken a toll on the nation’s relations with Canada, its neighbor to the north. The U.S. and Canadian governments continue to be at odds over trade, and the latter has now moved closer to China for trade citing volatility from the imposition of tariffs, but also the very electric vehicle mandate cuts that Trump — and Vance — continue to tout as wins for the administration.

The vice president’s mission to Michigan wasn’t just a means to elevate Trump and his economic agenda. In many ways, Vance’s address to Republicans was more of a stump speech for GOP candidates for Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

“In the same way that the American dream was sold out in one year, it’s going to take us longer to rebuild it,” Vance said. “What is really at stake in this election in November is, fundamentally, we’ve done so much good, and we’ve done so much that we’ve been able to do a lot to the American people, but the Democrats threaten to take us straight back to where we were just a few four years ago.”

Vance claimed that former President Joe Biden was still responsible — 14 months removed from his presidency — for the economic woes that Americans continue to face, with high rates for utility services and groceries rising at a rapid pace.

Although Vance and Trump have said that prices on goods are going down, the federal government’s own statistics tell another story. In the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture food price outlook for 2026, published late last month, the all-items Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% from December 2025 to this January. It was up 2.4% from January 2025, the USDA wrote in its forecast.

The Consumer Price Index is a measure of economy-wide inflation, the USDA added. Food prices rose at the same rates, federal statistics show. The index on food prices increased 0.4% from December 2025 to this January, and food prices were up 2.9% higher than January 2025.

Still, Vance was adamant that the country was better off without Democrats in control of all levers of power in Congress. The vice president said it wasn’t just about the economy, but also peace and security, touting Trump’s immigration policies and his aggressive use of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to detain and deport scores of people from American soil.

“It seems like it’s very far off, but the reality is, in just about six months, you’re going to be asked to go to the polls and you’re going to be presented with this question,” Vance said. “Do you support the party that fights for fraud and illegal immigration, or do you support the Republican Party that fights for you and lower taxes?”

Vance takes questions on Iran war fallout

From there, Vance’s speech transformed into a quasi-press conference, as the vice president took questions from various Michigan news outlets.

Given that Iran, in the aftermath of the U.S. and Israel’s undeclared war on that nation, has closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime waterway for commerce and oil shipments, Vance was asked what the administration was doing to keep gas prices down. He was also asked where prices were going in the near future.

Vance acknowledged that gas prices were rising and that people’s pocketbooks were hurting because of it.

“Gas prices are higher right now. Frankly, they’re not even as high as they were during certain parts of the Biden administration, because of what’s going on in the Middle East. It’s not going to last forever,” Vance said. “We’re working on a number of things, in fact, a couple of things that I think will be announced in just the next 24 to 48 hours. I don’t want to get ahead of the President on that. But we recognize this is an issue.”

‘Something is broken’: Michigan lawmakers call for action on antisemitism after Temple Israel attack

Earlier in his speech, Vance mentioned the March 12 Temple Israel attack that rattled Michigan’s Jewish community and the state as a whole. He said his prayers and heart were going out to those who had to endure the attack firsthand, which ended without any loss of life other than the gunman, 41-year-old Ayman Ghazali of Dearborn Heights. 

Ghazali was killed by security personnel protecting the synagogue.

Relatedly, Vance was asked what the administration was doing to keep Americans safe in the face of rising antisemitism and Islamophobia, and the potential for homeland attacks due to the war in Iran.

The vice president said it was “an obsessive focus of the entire U.S. government to understand where these threats are, where people might attack innocent Americans, and what we can do to address it, to get ahead of it.”

“And, God forbid, if something does happen, to respond to it as quickly as possible,” Vance said. “There’s a lot we’re working on. Knock on wood, I think we’ve had a good track record with security under the Trump administration.”

The war, however, has seemingly fractured Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. Many supporters who voted for him in 2024 have vocally come out against the war and have said that Trump was breaking a key campaign promise of not starting any new, costly foreign wars without a clear exit plan in sight.

Most recently, Joe Kent, Trump’s director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned from his post citing objections to the Iran war. Kent also accused Trump of exaggerating the threat Iran posed to the U.S., undercutting the president’s explanation for striking the country first with support from Israel.

Trump administration’s top counterterrorism official resigns over war in Iran

Was this a major sign of the MAGA movement breaking apart? Vance didn’t address that directly when asked by the Michigan Advance, but he did say that he liked Kent, as did the president, and that they entertain differences of opinion in the Trump White House.

“If you are on the team and you can’t help implement the decisions of his administration, and he has the right to make those decisions, then it’s a good thing for you to resign,” Vance said of Kent. “I think it’s fine to disagree, but once the President makes a decision, it’s up to everybody who serves in his administration to make it as successful as possible. That’s how I do my job, and I think that’s how everybody in the administration should do their job.”

Gordie Howe bridge issue takes center stage

Vance was asked about the Gordie Howe International Bridge dustup earlier this year, when it was revealed that the president had been lobbied by the Moroun family — the owners of the rival Ambassador Bridge — to stall the opening of its competitor. Matthew Moroun, the owner of the Ambassador bridge and the son of trucking magnate Matty Moroun, was reported to have given large campaign donations to Trump, who threatened to keep the Gordie Howe bridge from opening until it could get a better deal with Canada for the bridge’s tolls.

Of note, the bridge tolls are set to be collected by Canada after that nation bankrolled the nearly $5 billion construction cost because the American partners did not want to pay for it.

A reporter asked Vance if Trump had taken the right steps with Canada to ensure that the bridge would open on time.

“Well, the President’s attitude on Canada is that they are an important ally. They’re an important trading partner, especially for folks in this region of our country,” Vance said. “But Canada has taken advantage of the United States of America for far too long, and they’ve taken advantage of the United States in a couple of different ways.”

The vice president said that included the supposed subsidization of the Canadian military, and supposed unfair trade.

“Our hope with Canada, and I think we’ll get there eventually, is we’re going to get to a point where Canada treats our workers fairly,” Vance said. “We treat their workers’ fairly, and they’re going to be a true ally and a true friend, not somebody who’s taken advantage of us, which is what they’ve done for most of my life.”

ICE concerns, election interference also broached

With ICE expanding its presence in Michigan, both in Romulus and Southfield, fear has abounded over whether Trump’s administration would try to take over the state’s elections. 

Michigan Republicans have asked him to do so for a host of reasons, including but not limited to the fact that Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is a candidate for governor, and because a Chinese national was accused of illegally voting in the 2024 election. The specter of the unfounded 2020 election conspiracies also looms large in Michigan.

Vance was asked if he could promise Michiganders that the federal government wouldn’t take over election administration in the state. Vance said he didn’t understand the premise of the question, but chalked it up to “scare tactics.”

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“If what you mean by intervening in the election is that we want everybody to have a voter ID before voting in this country, yes,” Vance said of Trump’s threat to issue an executive order related to the implementation of national voter ID. “We don’t want to intervene in elections, but we certainly want to make elections safe and secure, number one, because we want to make sure that the will of the voters is actually recognized and respected.”

In response to Vance’s visit, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel blamed Vance and Trump and their allies in Congress for a host of perceived slights against Michigan residents, and noted that gas prices were up recently in Lansing. 

He also addressed the Gordie Howe Bridge issue.

“Voters know … that Trump is threatening to block the Gordie Howe Bridge from opening and endangering countless Michigan jobs,” Hertel said. “Michiganders see right through their bullshit, and no matter what comes out of Vance’s mouth, Michiganders know exactly how this administration has hurt them and their families.”