President Donald Trump’s sense of humor and flair for the unexpected took center stage again this week, thanks to a story shared by Vice President JD Vance at the Ohio Republican Party dinner in Lima. Vance, delivering the keynote address, recounted a tense early moment in the Trump-Vance administration that quickly turned into a scene of comic relief — one that perfectly captured Trump’s well-known ability to break tension with an unexpected joke.
During a high-stakes diplomatic call in the Oval Office, Trump was reportedly having difficulty making headway with a foreign leader. Sensing the unease, he decided to pull a prank on his newly minted vice president.
President Trump’s sense of humor is too damn good.
Listen to this story from @JDVance!
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 25, 2025
“The President looks over at me, puts the foreign leader on mute, and says, ‘This is not going very well,’ and he presses the red button,” Vance told the laughing audience. “My eyes get really big and I’m like, ‘Mr. President, what just happened?’”
With a straight face, Trump replied, “Nuclear.”
For a few long seconds, Vance was left in stunned silence — until the door opened and a staffer walked in, not with launch codes, but with a Diet Coke.
“He looks back at me and says, ‘It wasn’t nuclear. It’s just the Diet Coke button,’” Vance said, drawing a wave of laughter from the crowd.
I wonder if other VPs had as much excitement as I do 😂
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 24, 2025
The red button story — already the stuff of D.C. legend — dates back to Trump’s first term, when he had a special button installed on the Resolute Desk to summon his favorite beverage. The button was reportedly removed under former President Biden but has since returned to the Oval Office under Trump’s second term.
The anecdote came after a day of sharp rhetoric from Trump, including pointed comments about Israel, Iran, and prominent Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Chuck Schumer. Vance, reflecting on his role as vice president, joked on X: “I wonder if other VPs had as much excitement as I do?” — a post punctuated with a laughing emoji.
