In a notable Cabinet Room interaction, President Donald Trump, aged 79, seemed to deride his vice president as inept during a televised assembly, with JD Vance, aged 41, present as the critique unfolded.
The event took place on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, during a Cabinet meeting when Trump began a disjointed discussion about Tim Walz and the vice presidential debate that happened in October 2024. “I think the man’s a grossly incompetent man,” Trump stated, initially seeming to refer to Walz before the comment took an unclear direction.
Many observers interpreted Trump’s rambling remarks to be about Vance, but the White House later clarified that the president was referring to Biden and Walz as the incompetent debaters, not his vice president.
The strange moment caught national interest as cameras recorded the conversation while Trump continued his circuitous commentary. The vice president’s response was noticeable throughout the uneasy moment, even though the president’s words were undeniably aimed at the vice president’s performance in the October 2024 debate.
The misunderstanding arose from Trump’s typical tangled sentence structure and unclear usage of pronouns during the Cabinet session. When Trump said, “I was saying, who is more incompetent, that man or my man? I had a man and he had a man; they were both incompetent,” many interpreted “my man” to mean JD Vance, as Vance was Trump’s running mate in the vice presidential debate under discussion. However, Trump was actually comparing debate opponents: “my man” referred to Biden (Trump’s own debate adversary in the presidential race), while “he had a man” referred to Walz (Vance’s opponent).
Snopes definitively refuted the widespread claim, stating: “The quote is correctly attributed, but the claim that Trump called Vance incompetent is not accurate.” Snopes noted that the White House confirmed Trump was referring to his own debate adversaries — Biden and Kamala Harris — as incompetent, not Vance.
This interpretation was further backed by Trump’s following statement: “I had a man and a woman. I thought she was very incompetent too,” clearly referring to Harris. Snopes concluded that media outlets and social media accounts likely used “attention-grabbing headlines for clicks and views as opposed to factual reporting,” with some posts acknowledging in their text that “the ‘they were both incompetent’ part could possibly have meant Walz and Biden” despite their misleading headlines claiming Trump labeled Vance as incompetent.
Recently, Vance has assumed a forceful role in defending Trump’s stances, sometimes surpassing the president himself. At the Munich Security Conference, Vance criticized European leaders on democracy and free speech, delivering comments that startled international audiences with their contentious tone.
The vice president also made news for a heated dispute with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During an Oval Office meeting on February 28, 2025, Vance accused Zelenskyy of being disrespectful, sternly criticizing the Ukrainian leader’s approach.
Vance’s combative approach was also evident in the Ukraine conversation, where he said Zelenskyy should be grateful to the United States for its support. The vice president’s assertive stance came as Trump threatened to pull back American support for Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia. The United States has provided between 175 billion and 185 billion dollars in aid to Ukraine.
The October 2024 vice presidential debate that Trump referred to during his Cabinet Room comments saw Vance competing against Walz in a nationally televised event. The debate became a highlight during the campaign, with both candidates’ supporters claiming victory for their respective nominees.
Aside from foreign policy confrontations, Vance has experienced backlash over immigration remarks, especially given his wife, Usha Vance’s, background. The vice president termed mass migration a theft of the American Dream on December 7, 2025, leading critics to point out the apparent inconsistency with his family situation.
The Cabinet Room incident has revived discussions about Trump’s communication style and the unique dynamics within his administration. The president’s comments about incompetence, made with Vance in the room, marked another unusual moment in an administration known for unpredictable interactions and public disputes.
As the administration continues to navigate domestic and international challenges, the relationship between Trump and Vance remains a topic of scrutiny. The vice president’s role as both a defender and occasional target of presidential commentary reflects the complex political environment that surrounds the current White House.
