US Vice President JD Vance said Washington and London want the same outcome in Gaza but do not agree on how to achieve it, after talks with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday in southern England.
Speaking at Chevening House, the official country residence of the UK foreign minister, Vance said the two allies shared “a common objective to resolve the crisis in the Middle East.” Still, he made clear the United States will not follow Britain’s lead in recognising a Palestinian state.
His skepticism is understandable when you see the deep crack forming between Western allies. On one side, you have Britain, France, and Canada making a bold new promise: they say they will recognize a Palestinian state. It’s a calculated gamble, a way to try and force Netanyahu’s hand over the war in Gaza. But on the other side, the United States is refusing to join them, insisting that the only way forward is through direct talks that put Israel’s security first.
But he questioned what that recognition from Britain and others really accomplishes, asking reporters, “I don’t know what recognition actually means, given the lack of a functional government there.”
Outside Chevening, a small group of protesters gathered, waving Palestinian flags. One held a placard with a meme of Vance. Organisers said more demonstrations were planned during his visit.
The meeting comes as Vance’s foreign policy views receive growing attention. He is a central figure in President Donald Trump’s administration and has been floated as a possible successor for the 2028 presidential election. Asked about Trump’s comments naming him a likely heir apparent, Vance brushed off the idea. “I’m not really focused even on the election in 2026, much less one, two years after that,” he said.
In a lighter moment before formal talks, Vance and Lammy went fishing in Chevening’s lake. Vance joked that all of his children caught fish while Lammy did not, calling it “the one strain on the special relationship.” Lammy replied on X that the vice president had given him “fishing tips, Kentucky style.”
The two men have struck up a personal rapport, helped by shared experiences of difficult childhoods and Christian faith, according to officials familiar with the relationship. “David has become a good friend of mine,” Vance said.
The Vance family will spend two nights at Chevening before heading to the Cotswolds for private time. His schedule includes official meetings, cultural visits and a possible stop with US troops stationed in Britain. Trump, meanwhile, is expected in the UK next month for a state visit, his second in the role.
Vance’s trip also carries political baggage. He has previously criticised Britain’s Labour government, at one point calling the UK “maybe the first truly Islamist country with a nuclear weapon” after Lammy’s party won power last year. Lammy, who once called Trump a “far right extremist,” has since dismissed those remarks as “old news.”
Both men appeared intent on keeping the focus on current diplomacy, even if the disagreements remain. The Gaza conflict, and how to end it, was at the centre of the day’s agenda — with neither side signalling a shift in their core positions.
