Vance says he’s done endorsing foreign candidates, standing by decision not to join Trump in backing Netanyahu

US Vice President JD Vance says he will no longer endorse foreign candidates for elections, standing by his decision not to join President Donald Trump in backing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after both the president and vice president endorsed Viktor Orbán of Hungary earlier this year.

“I’ve endorsed one foreign candidate for election in my entire life. First of all, it didn’t go particularly well. As much as I’m very much an admirer of [former] prime minister Orbán… That was in April 2026,” Vance quips in remarks to reporters during an event in Ohio. Orbán lost that election to Péter Magyar.

In addition to Orbán, though, Vance met last year with the leader of Germany’s far-right AfD and expressed his support for the party, while stopping short of a formal endorsement.

Le vice-président américain JD Vance a, contrairement à Donald Trump, refusé d'exprimer son soutien à Benjamin Netanyahu en vue des législatives en Israël#BFM2 pic.twitter.com/6o419F1Pne

— BFM (@BFMTV) October 21, 2026

“We’re in the middle of an American election cycle where I’m very focused on getting candidates elected in the United States of America,” Vance says in Ohio today, referring to the November 3 midterm Congressional elections.

“I’m not attacking Bibi Netanyahu. I’m not endorsing Bibi Netanyahu. I think the president’s endorsement is ultimately what matters, and the president is going to make the decision about how he doles out that endorsement according to his preferences.”

“I’m not endorsing any more foreign candidates now or in the future,” Vance asserts.

Vance first revealed this stance on Monday, hours after Trump announced his endorsement of Netanyahu.

The vice president has at times been more critical of Israel, particularly of some of its more far-right ministers who criticized Washington’s diplomacy with Iran earlier this year.