Vice President JD Vance was guarded by armed Secret Service snipers as he attended a Club World Cup soccer game in Cincinnati on Wednesday afternoon.
Amid growing fears of Iranian terrorist sleeper cells on US soil, Donald Trump’s No 2 was back in his home state and taking some time out from the serious business to watch Borussia Dortmund take on Ulsan HD.
In front of a sparse crowd at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, stark images showed three Secret Service agents training their weapons around the crowd, seemingly to ensure the VP and his family remained safe in their VIP box.
Vance was joined by his wife Usha and friends for the game, which featured Jobe Bellingham and finished 1-0 to Dortmund, courtesy of a goal from Daniel Svensson.
It was perhaps surprising to see the VP in such a relaxing environment amid growing tensions between Iran, Israel and the US, and 10 days of back-and-forth bombings.
Trump spent Wednesday in the Netherlands for the NATO, where he posed for pictures with the Queen and her husband King Willem-Alexander.
The president ordered a three-target strike on Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday to back Israel in its efforts to stunt Tehran’s development of nuclear weapons.
He said on Monday that Israel and Iran approached him ‘almost simultaneously’ seeking an end to the missile fire.
Trump then coordinated with Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to work with Qatari mediators on a ceasefire.
Vance’s visit to the soccer game came hours after he spoke at a fundraiser in Lima, Ohio on Tuesday night.
At the event, he praised Trump for his handling of the Iran-Israel conflict, as well as the economy and immigration.
News also dropped on Tuesday that ICE agents had arrested 11 Iranian illegal immigrants on US soil, amid rising warnings about possible ‘sleeper cells’.
Among them was a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member with suspected ties to Hezbollah, an ex-Iranian army sniper and a terror watchlist suspect.
US border agents had been warned – in the aftermath of the US’ bombing of Iran – to be aware of possible Iranian sleeper cells entering the country.
In a memo to border agents, as reported by the New York Post, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott wrote: ‘Over the past four years, thousands of Iranian nationals have been documented entering the United States illegally and countless more were likely in the known and unknown got-a-ways.
‘Though we have not received any specific credible threats to share with you all currently, the threat of sleeper cells or sympathizers acting on their own, or at the behest of Iran has never been higher.’
