How JD Vance sees the world - and why that matters

JD Vance's first major foreign speech, at the Munich Security Conference in mid-February , caught many by surprise.

He used his debut on the international stage to berate close US allies about immigration and free speech.

But days later he was back in the news, with a blistering row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky .

The vice-president has come to represent an intellectual wing of the conservative movement that gives expression to Trumpism.

Vice-president seems extremely plugged into internet culture.

He's an enthusiastic user of X, often jumping directly into arguments rather than using it as a platform for announcements.

His views burst into the open during a dramatic argument with President Zelensky in the Oval Office .

He has been rejected by members of the alt-right even if he does echo some of their views.

David Frum , a former George W Bush speechwriter, called Vance 's view of Russia "ideological admiration" Vance 's views on Ukraine provided a dramatic moment in the early days of Trump 's second presidential term.

The vice-president has said that there are bigger issues for the US and its friends to focus on than Ukraine .