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Vance to Attend Billionaire-Hosted Fundraisers as Iran War Worsens Cost Crisis, Hunger
"JD Vance has a lot of nerve showing up in Texas to shake down wealthy donors... while Texans are paying through the nose at the pump and can’t get through the airport his party broke,” said one Democratic state lawmaker.
Mar 23, 2026
Vice President JD Vance's scheduled attendance at three $100,000-per-couple fundraisers has raised eyebrows and ire as Americans struggle to make ends meet due to the Trump administration economic policies and experts warn that the US-Israeli war on Iran could cause tens of millions of people in the Global South to suffer acute hunger.
Vance—who is widely expected to run for president in 2028—is in Texas this week for Republican National Committee fundraisers in Austin on Monday and Dallas on Tuesday. The vice president is also scheduled to attend another similar fundraising event in Nashville, Tennessee on March 30.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Joe Lonsdale, the billionaire founder of the controversial data analytics company Palantir, is hosting the Austin event. Billionaire investor and real estate developer Ray Washburne will co-host the Dallas fundraiser along with Chris Buskirk, founder of the venture capital firm where Donald Trump Jr. works. Buskirk openly advocates for an American "aristocracy" that "takes care of the country and governs it well so that everyone prospers.”
Also set to co-host the Dallas event is David Hininger, the former CEO of CoreCivic, a leading private prison firm in an industry that has gloated about the "unprecedented" profit potential of Trump's mass arrest and deportation campaign against undocumented immigrants.
Donors were reportedly asked to pay $250,000 to host one of the fundraisers.
"While Vance dines with billionaire donors, Americans are struggling to get by in the Trump-Vance economy as prices on everything from gas to groceries soar and working families dip into their savings to make ends meet," the Democratic National Committee said in a statement Monday.
"Trump and Vance’s war with Iran has already claimed the lives of 13 US service members and injured over 230, while driving up global oil prices and gas prices for Americans back home," the DNC added, without mentioning the thousands of Iranians killed or wounded by the illegal war of choice. "According to [the American Automobile Association], the average price for a gallon of gas is $3.96 nationwide, up from $2.94 just one month ago."
Trump campaigned on promises of no new wars and lower consumer prices, including gas, on "day one." Since returning to office, he has ordered the bombing of seven countries. Gas prices are up around 30% since Trump returned to the White House in January 2020.
“Prices on everything from gas to groceries to rent are soaring because of the Trump-Vance agenda, and what is JD Vance up to? He’s rubbing elbows with billionaires and special interests while working families struggle to make ends meet," DNC Chair Ken Martin said Monday. "Everyday Americans are stretching every dollar just to get by, and Vance is worried about lining his own pockets.”
Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Christina Morales (D-145) told the Houston Chronicle Monday that "JD Vance has a lot of nerve showing up in Texas to shake down wealthy donors for a quarter of a million dollars a head while Texans are paying through the nose at the pump and can’t get through the airport his party broke."
The war on Iran and its cascading global economic impacts could also fuel a sharp rise in acute hunger around the world, the United Nations World Food Program warned last week. WFP said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is driving higher energy and fertilizer prices, which in turn can result in more expensive food.
“If this conflict continues, it will send shockwaves across the globe, and families who already cannot afford their next meal will be hit the hardest," Carl Skau, WFP’s deputy executive director and chief operating officer, said. “Without an adequately funded humanitarian response, it could spell catastrophe for millions already on the edge.”
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Top Iranian Lawmaker Accuses Trump of Trying to ‘Manipulate' Markets With Claims of Talks
"Fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped," said the speaker of the Iranian Parliament.
Mar 23, 2026
As the Iranian government denied President Donald Trump's claim on Monday that "productive" talks are taking place between the US and the Middle Eastern country, which the White House has joined Israel in attacking for close to a month, a top Iranian lawmaker accused the president of attempting to manipulate global markets with his claim.
"No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped," said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, in a post on X.
Ghalibaf's theory appeared to be supported by developments in the financial markets shortly after Trump's seemingly significant announcement Monday morning.
As the market analysis and commentary website The Kobeissi Letter reported, by 7:10 am Eastern—six minutes after Trump appeared to allude to diplomatic strides toward ending his unprovoked war—the S&P 500 surged by more than 240 points, adding more than $2 trillion in market capitalization.
Iran's Foreign Ministry denied Trump's claim 27 minutes later, and by 8:00 AM Eastern the S&P 500 had fallen by 120 points, erasing nearly $1 trillion in market value.
"That's a $3 TRILLION swing market cap in 56 minutes, just in the S&P 500," said The Kobeissi Letter. "What is happening here?"
Ahead of Ghalibaf's remarks, The New Republic also posited that Trump's "news" of productive discussions was "just a ploy at market manipulation."
The quick denial of talks from the Foreign Ministry raised "serious doubts as to whether the president is telling the truth or just saying whatever he can to stop gas prices from rising more and more as Iran locks down the Strait of Hormuz."
Since the US and Israel began its assault on Iran on February 28, Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply flows, and sent gas prices soaring to nearly $4 per gallon, up from $2.91 before the war.
The war, which has killed more than 3,200 Iranians and exploded into a larger conflict, with more than 1,000 people killed in Lebanon and at least 60 killed in Iraq, has appeared politically toxic for Trump, who campaigned on "no new wars" and making life more affordable for Americans.
Nearly 80% of people who voted for Trump in 2024 said last week that they hope for a quick end to the war.
Some observers noted that even the president's five-day deadline for negotiations to conclude—after which he suggested the US could launch strikes against Iran's energy infrastructure—appeared to revolve around the week's closing of energy markets on Friday.
"Every week, when markets open, Trump makes these kinds of statements to drive down oil prices," said Iranian academic Seyed Mohammad Marandi. "Even his five-day deadline aligns with the closure of the energy market. But in reality, there are no negotiations underway, nor does Trump have the capability to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's firm threat has once again forced Trump to back down."
On Saturday, Trump had threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power plants if it didn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Monday. Iran responded with a threat to target energy infrastructure across the region, including in Israel.
A senior Iranian official told Drop Site News that "no new developments have occurred” diplomatically between the US and Iran.
Iran's conditions for ending the war, the official said, include a simultaneous ceasefire in Iran, Lebanon, and Iraq. The government is also demanding an end to US sanctions on Iran's procurement of defensive weapons and equipment.
“The fact that he publicly responds to [Iran’s position] by posting a tweet," the official said, "is solely intended to manage the financial markets—nothing more."
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Denying Claim of Talks, Iran Says Trump ‘Backed Down’ After Threat of Power Plant Retaliation
Iran's foreign ministry accused the US president of cynically trying to "reduce energy prices and gain time to implement his military plans."
Mar 23, 2026
Iran's foreign ministry on Monday denied US President Donald Trump's claim that the two sides were engaged in "productive" talks over a possible end to the conflict started by the US and Israel late last month.
According to Iranian news agencies, Iran's foreign ministry said Iranian forces' pledge to retaliate in kind against any US strikes on Iran's power plants forced the president to acquiesce. In a Truth Social post early Monday, Trump said he instructed the Pentagon to "postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period."
Over the weekend, Trump vowed to "obliterate" Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully reopened by Monday night. Iran said in response that it would hit power plants serving US military installations in Gulf nations.
"Trump, fearing Iran's response, backed down from his 48-hour ultimatum," Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported Monday following the US president's Truth Social post.
In a statement reported by Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency, the nation's foreign ministry said that Trump's Monday statement was "within the framework of efforts to reduce energy prices and gain time to implement his military plans."
"There are initiatives by regional countries to deescalate tensions, and our response to all of them is clear: We are not the party that started this war, and all these requests should be referred to Washington," the statement added. Iranian officials maintained that there have been no direct or indirect talks with the Trump administration over an end to the war.
Since the US and Israel started bombing late last month, Tehran has publicly rejected diplomatic talks with the US, saying Trump's decision to wage war on Iran sabotaged previous nuclear negotiations that had been progressing.
"We don't ask for ceasefire, but this war must end, in a way that our enemies never again think about repeating such attacks," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last week.
Trump's announcement that he would hold off on striking Iranian power plants for at least five days was seen by some in the US as a cynical attempt to calm shaky global markets, not an indication of movement toward a diplomatic resolution.
"Trump isn't announcing a pause on strikes. He's saying he's postponing a possible war crime—strikes on Iran's civilian energy infrastructure," said US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "Also, this isn't a message to Iran. It's a panicky message to the markets: 'No war escalation until markets close on Friday.'"
Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, said in a statement Monday that "we hope the president isn’t negotiating with himself for social media and TV cameras to calm the markets while there is really no end to this war in sight."
“It should shock Americans that, before this apparent pullback, our commander-in-chief is threatening war crimes and to blow up power plants in Iran," said Abdi. "While this may be an attempt by the president to seize escalation dominance back from Iran, this notion is punctured by the fact that Iran would likely respond to such crimes with its own heinous attacks on power plants and civilian infrastructure in the region, upping the ante even further against the US, its partners, and the global economy."
"That’s why diplomacy is critical right now," Abdi added. "However, the president has severely undermined the US power of diplomacy as well. President Trump's past two attempts at diplomacy with Iran ended in surprise attacks by Israel, supported by the US, and has created the impression that the president uses talks as cover for Israel to launch military strikes. Unless the president is willing to seriously negotiate and can also restrain Israel from sabotaging an agreement, the war will continue and the possibility of escalation, whether by putting boots on the ground or committing war crimes, will take this war even further from a possible endpoint."
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