Vice President JD Vance and his family detoured on their flight back to Washington, D.C., from India to refuel and visit with American service members stationed in Germany.
Vance, sporting a casual green jacket and khaki pants, spent several hours at Ramstein Air Base, receiving a tour of a C-130 and attending an impromptu cookout.
Vance, a Marine veteran himself, spent time on the keg, serving beers in plastic cups and toasting the crowd, according to the traveling press. At one point, the vice president joked about chugging a beer, telling troops the clip “would go viral, and not in a good way, my friends.”
“To the airmen of this base, the airwomen of this base, and all of our troops serving overseas, God bless you guys. Cheers,” Vance added before taking a sip.
Vance also autographed the kegerator, which was built by Air Force Master Sgt. Anthony Davis, who asked the vice president to sign it.
“To Anthony, this is great! A work of genius!! JD Vance,” Vance wrote on the kegerator serving up Benediktiner Hell lager beer.
President Donald Trump has steadily deployed Vance as a top messenger abroad. Thursday’s stop was the vice president’s second in Germany since January.
Late last week, Vance, second lady Usha Vance, and their three children traveled to Rome, Italy, before continuing to India earlier this week. In Rome, the vice president met with the late Pope Francis just hours before he died early Monday morning.
Trump has specifically leveraged Vance as a foreign policy cudgel on both the war in Ukraine and general defense commitments from European allies.
While flying to Germany, the vice president reshared Trump’s statement from Wednesday, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of slow-walking ceasefire negotiations.
Vance returns to Washington as Trump prepares for his first foreign trip since reentering office. The president and first lady Melania Trump will depart the White House Friday morning for Rome to attend Francis’s funeral services.
UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER MAKES UNSCHEDULED WHITE HOUSE VISIT
Trump himself, who has drawn criticism for putting equal blame for the war on Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, offered a stark rebuke of Russia’s latest offensive Thursday morning.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
