Sid Rosenberg warms to Vance after White House meeting

“I leave this meeting today feeling like I can work with this guy,” Rosenberg said. “We can work with this guy, and he is willing to listen.”

By World Israel News Staff

Pro-Israel radio host Sid Rosenberg emerged upbeat from his closely watched White House meeting with Vice President JD Vance on Thursday, saying the two “hit it off” and predicting further discussions on “very substantial things.”

The warm assessment marked a notable shift from Rosenberg, who has been sharply critical of Vance over his approach to Israel and continued friendship with Tucker Carlson.

“I enjoyed my time with the Vice President and it gave us a chance to get to know each other,” Rosenberg wrote on X after the meeting. “That’s all I’m prepared to share today. I look forward to talking again to the Vice President in the near future.”

Rosenberg also met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office following his conversation with Vance, describing Trump as “the greatest president in our country’s history.”

Later Thursday, Rosenberg offered a more detailed assessment of the Vance meeting during an appearance on 77 WABC’s “Cats & Cosby.”

“It went well. We hit it off really well,” Rosenberg said, adding that he expects Vance to “lean on me” and that there would be “many, many more meetings about very substantial things in the very near future.”

“I think I charmed him more,” Rosenberg joked. “I did most of the talking, and he spent most of the time laughing.”

Rosenberg said Thursday’s discussion was primarily an opportunity for the two men to become acquainted and declined to disclose what was discussed behind closed doors.

But he made clear that the meeting had left him with a substantially more positive impression of the vice president.

“I leave this meeting today feeling like I can work with this guy,” Rosenberg said. “We can work with this guy, and he is willing to listen.”

Rosenberg added that he left the meeting “very optimistic” and said he was convinced Vance does not “hate Israel.”

The meeting came weeks after Rosenberg publicly criticized Vance following the vice president’s appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit in Las Vegas.

“My honest assessment of Vice President Vance tonight? He was not strong enough on Israel,” Rosenberg wrote at the time, taking particular issue with Vance referring to Israel as “one of our best allies.”

Rosenberg also faulted Vance for failing to directly confront Carlson, whose increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Israel and willingness to platform figures accused of antisemitism have generated fierce criticism among Jewish and pro-Israel Republicans.

“He had a chance to hammer Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly but instead spent all his time defending Joe Rogan over Nick Fuentes,” Rosenberg wrote after the RJC gathering.

Vance has since publicly defended his friendship with Carlson, saying three days after the RJC event that he would not “throw friends under the bus” because of political disagreements.

The issue carries particular weight as Vance is widely viewed as a leading prospective candidate for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination and faces scrutiny from pro-Israel Republicans over what his leadership could mean for the party’s traditionally strong support for the Jewish state.

Rosenberg revealed Thursday that it was Vance’s team that initiated their meeting after the RJC gathering.

“I was really surprised when I was coming back from Las Vegas after speaking at the RJC when his people reached out to me and said, ‘JD wants to meet you. He wants to talk to you,’” Rosenberg recalled.

Rosenberg said he asked whether Vance’s team was aware of how critical he had been of the vice president.

“We read and hear everything. We don’t care,” Rosenberg quoted them as responding.

For now, Rosenberg is keeping the substance of Thursday’s conversation private. But his public assessment afterward was markedly warmer than the one he offered following Vance’s RJC appearance, with the radio host suggesting the meeting could be the beginning of an ongoing relationship rather than the end of a political dispute.