QUANTICO, VA—As members of the White House press corps peppered Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with questions about the high-level Signal chat on Houthi strikes, Vice President JD Vance was landing at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia.
Vance, who said he came straight from a meeting with the president, was following through on a visit with members of the United States Marine Corps, the same branch of the military in which he served from 2003 to 2007. The vice president has been very open about how much of an impact this service had on him, writing in his memoir that it “taught me how to live like an adult,” helping him rise above his challenging circumstances at home in rural Appalachia.
He had no idea how far it would lead him.
“You all know how big of a part the Marine Corps was of my life and how important it was for me,” he told the gathered troops, flanked by both an American flag and a USMC flag, just as he is in his White House office. “And I just wanted to say, from the bottom of my heart, from one Marine to another, thank you for your service. We’re proud of you, and I’m proud to be here with my fellow Marines. God bless you guys.”
Back at home base, reporters grilled Leavitt about the Signal group chat, which The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to. Vance, who has echoed Team Trump’s defense that the chat did not discuss war plans and that Goldberg is an anti-Trump writer exaggerating the incident, didn’t bring up the topic in his remarks to the service members.
Instead, he stressed to the Marines that they were forming “our young people into United States Marines,” as they had done for him.
“And that is, I think, the best thing the Marine Corps does for the United States of America,” the vice president said.
Vice President JD Vance greets Marines(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Ahead of the vice president’s arrival, hundreds of marines gathered at the hanger to hear him speak. They chatted with one another for several hours as they waited for Vance, not a cell phone in sight, laughing and joking and strolling about the space. Major Karen Jensen told reporters that about 750 marines, total, were expected to gather that morning.
Classic rock played loudly from overhead speakers. The marines looked curiously at the media, who sat awaiting the vice president on a riser, and some of the service members opened up about their thoughts on the vice president.
“It’s definitely going to be a breath of fresh air to have a marine that’s second in charge,” one young marine told The Daily Wire. “It’s good to have that representation for us, especially being the smallest branch, just having somebody to look out and understand how we feel as marines, it’s very important to me.”
“Recruitment in the Marine Corps is at an all-time high right now,” another marine from Georgia shared, asking how the new Trump administration is affecting recruitment. “A lot of people want to join the military now that we have people that are willing to back the United States.”
Awaiting @VP’s arrival at Quantico, these young marines speak about their enthusiasm for Vance:
“It’s definitely going to be a breath of fresh air”
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet someone like him”
“Love to see the Marine Corps representing the United States” pic.twitter.com/fdYOdHGnp8
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) March 26, 2025
Every marine who spoke with The Daily Wire was proud that the vice president was coming to their base. It’s a new feeling for many of them: to know they are represented by a man who has walked in their shoes, and who now holds the second most important office in the United States of America.
Lance Corporal Jacob Parker says he didn’t initially know his new vice president was a marine. When he learned the news, he said with a grin, his reaction was, “Hell yeah.” When asked if the vice president’s visit motivates him, he told The Daily Wire, “Yes ma’am, I have a lot of motivation in my body going through my veins.”
Lance Corporal Casey Bonestroo, who sat with the vice president while he had lunch with the service members in the chow hall, also told The Daily Wire that she found it “super motivating” to “know that we have a leader in the White House who has been in our shoes.”
“He was the one to get down and dirty for our country, the same thing that we are,” she said.
The vice president’s arrival drew huge enthusiasm from the assembled marines, who chanted their battle cry, “Ooh-rah,” each time he paused his remarks. Vance struck a notable, almost paternal note when he spoke to them: both he, and President Donald Trump, are not only incredibly proud of the Marine Corps — they also love the United States Marines, and they’ll do anything to make sure they are equipped for their mission.
And in that same tone, Vance shared with the service members how proud he is about the new direction the United States military is headed under Trump’s leadership. He spoke casually, but to the point.
“We don’t care who you are, where you came from. We don’t care what skin color you are. We care about excellence, and we care about patriotism.”
“If you are awesome and you are a patriotic young Marine, then we are going to do everything that we can to make you the most lethal fighting force the world has ever seen, and that is what we’re doing every single day,” Vance added.
The United States is done with woke ideology, Vance stressed, and focused on creating warriors.
“No more quotas,” he said. “No more ridiculous mumbo jumbo. No more diversity trainings. We believe the real strength and the real diversity in the United States Marine Corps is that you all come from every walk of life, come from every corner of America, and you have got the strength and the purpose to win the nation’s wars. And that is what the Marine Corps is going to do, just like it’s done for damn near 250 years.”
Vance promised the marines that the Trump administration would invest in them “like we never have before,” vowing, “I promise to you, from the president of the United States, we are going to send you, if we have to send you to war, with the best equipment, the best ammunition, the best weapons. And we are going to empower you guys to win when you have to. That’s the purpose the United States Marine Corps.”
Vance at a Quantico gun range. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The visit didn’t end there. Vance dined with the Marines at the Dwyer Chow Hall, asking the service members where they were from and joking with them about Marine life. And then he headed out to the shooting range, to test some weapon systems that had been prepared for him.
Reporters were told to stay at a safe distance behind barriers and use earplugs to guard their ears from the sounds of the weapons, and photographers huddled close together to get a good shot as the Vice President of the United States lay on his stomach in the dirt and fired off at distant targets.
He laughed heartily after he tested each weapon, clearly enjoying himself, and joked with the marines who walked him through each weapon system, including an M27 5.56 Infantry Automatic Rifle, replicating the Marine Corps annual qualification training, an M107 .50 caliber sniper rifle, and an M240B machine gun. He also tested out a first-person view drone, the Skydio X2D drone from the Marine Corps Attack Drone team from The Basic School.
.@VP on the range: pic.twitter.com/6wfYOQAfaU
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) March 26, 2025
Shortly before he left, he even tested out the M101 105mm howitzer, a type of cannon.
“Are we good? No projectiles?” he questioned before he fired the howitzer, and gestured towards the reporters, joking, “The media would never let me live that one down.”
He fired the howitzer, saying delightedly, “WOW,” as the weapon resounded loudly throughout the range.
Vance has said the Marine Corps taught him how to be a warrior, showed him that he could run three miles in 19 minutes, and effectively handle weapons and finagle media comms in the media relations office. But he also says that the Marines taught him how to make smart financial decisions, gave him brotherhood with Marines that will last a lifetime, and, most importantly, gave him the courage to face life’s challenges.
“It was the Marine Corps that first gave me an opportunity to truly fail, made me take that opportunity, and then, when I did fail, gave me another chance anyway,” he wrote.
So, while Wednesday’s visit to Quantico was inspiring for the Marines, it’s likely it was even more inspiring to the vice president himself.
“The Vice President is always grateful for the opportunity to speak to our brave service members,” a spokesman for Vance told The Daily Wire. “As the first former Marine to serve as Vice President, today was especially meaningful.”
