White House rivalry complicates peace talks: 'Waiting to see if he self-destructs'

The Trump administration's effort to broker peace in the Middle East is being shaped — and at times complicated — by competing approaches from Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A top Trump adviser described the two men as representing different instincts within the president's own thinking on the region, with Rubio leaning more pro-Israel and Vance more skeptical of Israeli positions, and one U.S. official told Axios the secretary of state has purposefully taken a back seat in the negotiations.

"He is waiting to see if Vance self-destructs," that official said.

However, another senior U.S. official dismissed that take as "boneheaded and wrong," adding that "both Marco and JD are executing the president's will," and White House spokesperson Anna Kelly denied a political dynamic existed.

"There is one camp — President Trump's camp — and the entire administration is fully behind the president's efforts to ensure Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon," Kelly said.

However, their competing approaches could be seen across three separate but overlapping agreements – a June 17 memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran negotiated by Vance, envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner; a follow-up Vance-brokered arrangement with Iran on June 21 concerning Lebanon; and a peace framework between Israel and Lebanon, finalized Friday, that Rubio oversaw.

Rubio's framework sought to limit Iranian influence in Lebanon, while Vance's earlier arrangement gave Tehran a role in shaping the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The contradiction grew confusing enough that negotiators from both Israel and Lebanon asked American mediators last week to clarify which track reflected actual U.S. policy. Hezbollah and its allies rejected Rubio's deal outright and called instead for the Vance-negotiated MOU to take precedence.

Officials close to the process maintain that the apparent inconsistencies are not signs of dysfunction, with one adviser comparing Rubio and Vance to complementary tools rather than opposing factions, adding that Trump ultimately directs the strategy. A senior official added that the two men's portfolios diverge geographically more than ideologically, overlapping primarily in Lebanon.

Insiders don't see conflicts over individual deals authorized through Rubio or Vance as an impediment for the president, and even suggested the competing approaches would be beneficial.

"This is all about moving toward peace – the more peace deals, the better," aid one senior administration official. "If Iran wants peace, there will be peace. If it wants war, there will be war."

That official disputed the notion of conflict between the vice president and secretary of state.

"[They're] working in concert with each other," that senior official said. "It's not that one has the pro-Israel bucket and the other has the anti-Israel bucket. It's not how it works internally."