Vice President JD Vance criticized The Wall Street Journal on Friday over an article it published misinterpreting remarks that Vance gave the newspaper in an interview.

“Vance Wields Threat of Sanctions, Military Action to Push Putin Into Ukraine Deal,” blared the headline of the news report, which was accompanied on X with the caption:

“Exclusive: Vance pledged to hit Russia with sanctions and potentially military action if Putin won’t agree to a peace deal that guarantees Ukraine’s independence” 

The headline that characterized Vance as threatening Russia—including with American military force—was condemned by the vice president on Friday. Vance reiterated that Trump would bring peace to the region, and said the newspaper had “twisted my words.”

William Martin, the communications director for Vance, had initially critiqued the Journal on Friday as promoting fake news.

The mischaracterization of the interview comes as the Trump administration just won the freedom of Marc Fogel, an American teacher imprisoned in Russia for more than three years. The administration also secured this week the release of an American and two others from Belarus, which neighbors Russia and is aligned with Moscow.

The vice president was set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference today in Germany along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They will discuss ending the Ukraine-Russia war after Trump’s calls with both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week. 

Vance’s comments simply explained that no options would automatically be off the table for President Donald Trump as he entered into negotiations with the Russians and Ukrainians. 

“I think the president has been very clear that he doesn’t like the idea of moving Ukraine into NATO. He’s been very clear about that. I also think the president is very clear that whenever he walks [into] a negotiation, everything is on the table,” Vance said in the full transcript of the interview. 

Vance went on to outline what options were at Trump’s disposal.

“I think certainly, look, there, there are instruments of pressure, absolutely, and again, if you look at President Trump’s approach to this, the range of options is extremely broad, and there are economic tools of leverage. There, of course, military tools of leverage. There’s a whole host of things that we could do. But fundamentally, I think the president wants to have a productive negotiation, both with Putin and with Zelenskyy,” Vance told the newspaper.

The Wall Street Journal’s article now has an X community note attached that says that “JD Vance made no explicit pledge to either sanctions or military actions. A copy of the transcript is included in the linked tweet.” The note then links to the Vance communications director’s post.

Vance is not one to shy away from tough questions from the media. During the 2024 presidential election, he agreed to interviews with both the adversarial New York Times and alternative media such as the Joe Rogan podcast.

The post ‘Pure Fake News’: Vance, Staffers Rip Wall Street Journal for Misrepresenting Russia Remarks  appeared first on The Daily Signal.