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Extra.ie
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
US Vice President JD Vance, Jeremy Clarkson and Cotswolds villagers in holiday annoyance
US Vice President JD Vance who is holidaying with his family in the UK this week, has been in a spot of bother with the people of the Cotswolds, where he has been staying, in an area quite close to the farm belonging to ex Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson is said to have been very annoyed over the visitors proximity to his property, as because of the level of security required for the US Vice President – Clarkson was not allowed to fly drones over his farm to film parts of the next episodes of the hugely successful series Clarksons Farm. The United States Secret Service descended upon the sleepy Oxfordshire village of Dean in their droves last week, closing off roads and checking the IDs of locals trying to access the village, all the while dressed down in blue t-shirts and cream chinos, as if trying to blend in with their surroundings. FAIRFORD, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: U.S. Vice President JD Vance addresses U.S. troops and their families in front of a Lockheed U-2 nicknamed the 'Dragon Lady', during a visit to RAF Fairford on August 13, 2025 in Fairford, England. U.S. Vice President JD Vance is making the visit to American troops from the United States Air Force's 501st Combat Support Wing and the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron based at RAF Fairford. The visit comes as Vance and his family are spending part of their summer vacation in nearby Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds. (Photo by) However, the 20 strong motorcade of bullet-proof vehicles following the VP around everywhere he went, caused chaos in the tiny villages and towns around Dean, one of the most beautiful and picturesque areas of Great Britain, renowned for its chocolate box houses, leafy lanes and very slow pace of life. JD Vance, his wife Usha, and their three children, Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel, have been enjoying the glorious summer weather this past week, but have not escaped the ire of the locals in and around the village of Dean, who found their lives disrupted, being stopped by the Secret Service and asked for ID when popping to the corner shop for milk. FAIRFORD, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: US Vice President JD Vance meets with U.S. troops and families during a visit to RAF Fairford on August 13, 2025 in Fairford, England. (Photo by) In fact the Vice President has been labelled 'a bit of a mouth' by one local after holidaying with his family in an English country manor this week. JD Vance also caused uproar when he went fishing with the UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, without having a licence to fish that particular stretch of water. His office called the faux pas, an 'administrative error'. The massive security operation that comes with having such a high-profile guest in the area, plus Mr Vance's very outgoing and outspoken nature, has not gone down well with some locals, Another resident said that, 'a lot of people are not particularly keen on Trump unfortunately, and I think because of that, a lot of people are going to see the vice president coming here as a bad thing.' SEVENOAKS, ENGLAND – AUGUST 8: U.S. Vice President JD Vance fishes with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House on August 8, 2025 in Sevenoaks, England. US Vice President JD Vance and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy are meeting for an official bilateral discussion at Chevening House, the Foreign Secretary's Grade I-listed summer residence near Sevenoaks in Kent, where Lammy is hosting the Vance family for the start of their UK holiday. Vance's itinerary is expected to also include a stay in the Cotswolds and a visit to Hampton Court Palace, and comes just weeks after US President Donald Trump vacationed in Scotland. (Photo by Suzanne Plunkett –) Mr Vance also used his visit to the UK to meet members of the US military at RAF Fairford – where the United States Air Force's 501st Combat Support Wing and the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron are currently stationed. During the visit he addressed the troops and it's believed he even ordered in McDonalds burgers for everyone on the base, as requested by the soldiers. Speaking about the UK he said 'This is a beautiful country – I've had some downtime with the family and we've had a very good time here in England – the United Kingdom is of course one of our great allies'. Cotswolds town Bourton-on-the-Water, United Kingdom. (Photo by) Mr Vance and his family, along with his massive security team and motorcade of 20 vehicles have made their way to Scotland where he is set to continue his family holiday. Which will come as a relief to Jeremy Clarkson, and the villagers who have seen their lives disrupted by the American visitors, but can now go back to that picture-perfect idyllic way of life in the Cotswold hills.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
JD Vance talks about "the bad guys" in Ukraine war - but doesn't say which side he means
US vice president JD Vance made the remarks in a speech to US personnel stationed at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, before giving out McDonalds cheeseburgers to the troops JD Vance said ending the war in Ukraine is possible because the "bad guys" fear the US military - but didn't say who the bad guys were. He made the remarks in a speech to US personnel stationed at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire - before giving out McDonalds cheeseburgers to the troops. Vance's speech came just minutes after he took part in a conference call with Donald Trump, Keir Starmer and European leaders about the conflict in Ukraine. He said: "The President of the United States came in six months ago and I just talked to him right before I came on the stage. And he said very simply that we are going to make it our mission as an administration to bring peace to Europe once again. But as you all know it is impossible to bring peace anywhere unless the bad guys are also worried that you've got a helluva fine Air Force and a helluva fine military to back up the peace to begin with." It comes after NATO scrambled warplanes as Russia shoots down West's F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine onslaught. In March (2025) Vance defended Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoy in Russia and Ukraine, after he said Putin was not "a bad guy". "Steve Witkoff is a great guy doing an incredible job," Vance wrote on social media after the gaffe. The people sniping at him are mad that he is succeeding where they failed for 40 years." Vance gave his speech standing in front of a Lockheed U-2 spy plane, of the type currently being used for recon missions over Russia and Ukraine. Vance is visiting the UK for a family holiday, though he spent the first few days of his trip with Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening. He's understood to have met with Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick during the visit, but not with Kemi Badenoch - blaming a scheduling conflict. Mr Vance met Foreign Secretary David Lammy earlier on Wednesday, where he said they 'worked on one of our most important shared security goals in Europe, which is the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine'. The vice president has previously criticised Europe over its defence funding, with leaked messages from a US Signal group chat showing Mr Vance saying he hated 'bailing Europe out'. He also criticised the UK in February, over a legal case in which a former serviceman who silently prayed outside an abortion clinic was convicted of breaching the safe zone around the centre.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
MIKEY SMITH: 10 unhinged Donald Trump moments as JD Vance faces fishing trip question
Donald Trump is moaning about the media again, JD Vance's holiday looks less like a holiday every day and there's more on Ghislaine Maxwell's prison status. Here's everything you need to know. JD Vance's holiday to the Cotswolds looks less and less like a holiday by the day. After spending most of the weekend (illegally) fishing and talking about Ukraine with David Lammy at Chevening, the Vice President had breakfast with Nigel Farage this morning, is having a zoom call with Starmer and European leaders about Ukraine right now, and he's speaking to US troops at a UK airbase in a couple of hours. If I were him I'd fire my travel agent. Meanwhile., the President has been moaning about media coverage of his meeting with Putin - which looks more and more like an objectively bad idea by the minute. Oh, and Ghislaine Maxwell might have been approved for work seems like a great idea all round. Here's everything that's happened in Trump World over the last 24 hours that you need to know about. Strap in. READ MORE: Liz Truss slams beloved UK event claiming it was made by people who 'hate Britain' 1. Trump moans about media coverage of his summit with Putin Because what else would he be doing at 8am on a Wednesday? The President complained on Truth Social that the coverage of his forthcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska was "very unfair." He wrote: :Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, "Putin has already won." What's that all about? We are winning on EVERYTHING. The Fake News is working overtime (No tax on overtime!)." He added: If I got Moscow and Leningrad free, as part of the deal with Russia, the Fake News would say that I made a bad deal!" It would certainly be a weird deal. 2. David Lammy makes a rod for his own for JD too? In undoubtedly the funniest story of the week, probably the year, David Lammy has reported himself to environmental authorities for fishing without a rod licence, during his angling adventure with JD Vance on Friday. Lammy could face a fine for the questions remain over whether he also failed to secure the correct paperwork for the VP and his family, who also cast lines at Chevening. Does diplomatic immunity cover environmental regulations infractions? Does it matter that everyone involved caught a fish except for Lammy himself? More as we get it. 3. JD Vance rallies the troops in the UK... Vice President JD Vance will give a speech to US military personnel stationed in the UK this afternoon at RAF Fairford, and we'll be in the room as he does it. The VP will deliver remarks in front of a Lockheed U-2, a high altitude recon aircraft currently in use over Ukraine - and undeniably a badass piece of equipment. Seriously, I'm looking at it right now and I'm pretty intimidated. Ahead of Vance's speech we're being treated to a playlist of songs so camp macho I can only assume it was drawn up by Pete Hegseth himself. We've had Macho Man by the Village People, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting by Elton John and, I swear, Bad Boys - the theme tune from COPS. Vance's speech will come almost immediately after he sits in on a group video call with Trump, Keir Starmer and Ukrainian and European leaders ahead of the US President's Alaskan chinwag with Vladimir Putin on Friday. 4. ...as US report blasts "human rights" slide Meanwhile, a State Department report has been published complaining that human rights are on the slide in the UK, and curiously making many of the same criticisms Vance has made in recent months. The annual assessment, which analyses human rights conditions worldwide, flagged what it described as "serious restrictions" on freedom of expression in the UK. "The government sometimes took credible steps to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses, but prosecution and punishment for such abuses was inconsistent," the report read. The report specifically said laws limiting speech around abortion clinics, pointing to "safe access zones" curbed expression, including silent protests and prayer. "These restrictions on freedom of speech could include prohibitions on efforts to influence others when inside a restricted area, even through prayer or silent protests," the report read. In the wake of the 2024 Southport attack, the report said government officials "repeatedly intervened to chill speech". All of which is awkward timing for JD Vance's Cotswolds holiday, given it's exactly what he's been moaning about for months. 5. Trump's Fox Host DC District Attorney abruptly stopped press conference after being asked proper questions DC's Trump appointed District Attorney, former Fox News personality Jeannine Pirro suffered a bit of a malfunction during a presentation to try and explain the plan to clean up the godforsaken heap of crime and filth we know as Washington. We're going to skip over the moment where she answered a question about hiring by saying: "im not going to bore you with the facts..." then realised what she'd said and joked "dont quote me on was off the record." (The briefing was televised) No, we're talking about this moment, where she responds to a perfectly reasonable question about whether the administration plans to do anything on crime prevention as part of this crackdown. "Oh stop it," she complained, looking for all the world like an ageing stand up comic doing a set at the Flamingo. She then abruptly ended the press conference. 6. The Department of Homeland Security keeps posting white suprematist-coded content Can't really believe I'm typing this, but it's happened too many times to ignore. Last night, the Department of Homeland Security posted this image: The post, which reads "Which way, American man?" is a pretty clear reference to Which Way, Western Man, a 1978 book by William Gayley Simpson. In the book, most recently published by National Vanguard, a neo-Nazi organisation, contains passages arguing Hitler was right, and calling for violence against Jews in order to "break their grip" on "the White man's world". Charming. Last month, they posted a painting of a family of white homesteaders during the Westward expansion of the US. There's a black woman, presumably a servant, in the background. The tweet read: "Remember your heritage." And a couple of weeks ago they posted a painting on Instagram, also depicting the Westward expansion, and featuring a painting by John Gast called "American Progress" which depicts Native Americans being driven out of their homes by a caravan of white people. Above the homesteaders there appears an angelic figure in a white robe, suggesting their "manifest destiny" over North America. The post reads: "A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending." 7. JD Vance parties with former Apprentice contestant The Vice President of the United States appears to have spent last night boozing with bosh gorblimey I'm just a normal bloke saying it like I sees it former Apprentice contestant Thomas Skinner last night. Apparently they got to know each other on social media. We're certain they had a lot to talk about. And how did he recover from the festivities this morning? Well, as regular readers already know, he had breakfast with Nigel Farage. 8. Trump's new labour stats chief has a painting of a Nazi ship behind his desk Donald Trump has picked EJ Antoni, an economist who most recently worked for Project 2025 authors the Heritage Foundation, to be his new head of employment statistics. You'll recall the other week Trump unceremoniously fired the previous head after the Bureau of Labour Statistics delivered a monthly jobs report he didn't like, accusing her and the body of faking the numbers to make him look bad. Two things are interesting about EJ. First of all, he's previously suggested it might be a good idea to scrap the publication of monthly jobs figures. Funny that. And appears to have a painting of the Bismarck, a Nazi World War II warship, behind the desk in his office. 9. Plot to make a "quick reaction force" to crack down on protests The Washington Post today reports the Trump Administration is reviewing plans to create a "Domestic Civil Disturbance Quick Reaction Force". According to internal Pentagon documents seen by the post it would be a standing squad of 600 troops able to deploy to crack down on protests within an hour. It's not clear who ordered the plans to be drawn up, or whether they've been seen by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth yet. Get Donald Trump updates straight to your WhatsApp! As the world attempts to keep up with Trump's antics, the Mirror has launched its very own US Politics WhatsApp community where you'll get all the latest news from across the pond. We'll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in. All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group. We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 10. Ghislaine Maxwell 'approved for work release' Podcaster Allison Gill claims to have obtained some of Ghislaine Maxwell's prison records - which appear to show she's cleared to leave her minimum security prison camp for work assignments. In a post on the blog she goes on to show screenshots suggesting Maxwell has a security points score of 27 - which would normally bar an offender from serving time in a minimum security facility. The screenshots also show a mark on the file noting she has a "public safety factor" of "SEX OFFN" - sex offender - but that there is a "PSF WAV" - public safety factor waver in place. There's no suggestion that she has in fact worked outside the prison camp.
