Inside Trump and Vance's 'buddy level' relationship

As Sen. JD Vance struggled through his debut this summer as Donald Trump’s running mate, his remarks about “childless cat ladies” running on a loop and distracting from everything else, the former president called to offer reassurance.

“Remember the first week, there were all these stories about Trump regretting his choice?” Vance told NBC News in a recent interview aboard his campaign plane. “He was checking in: ‘Hey, you’re under a level of scrutiny that nobody has really faced except for me.’ And he was just being supportive and providing moral support and cracking some jokes.”

Two months later, Vance’s disruptive presence on the Republican ticket is again the subject of headlines. He amplified unsubstantiated rumors about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio — claims that Trump repeated last week during a debate in which he also suggested that he and Vance weren’t on the same page about abortion. But that early and encouraging phone call, which Vance described as “heartwarming,” remains a window into the relationship he and Trump have built.

Trump is “immensely happy with JD’s performance,” said a person who speaks with Trump and is familiar with his thinking. The former president clicks with Vance “on a buddy level,” another person familiar with their interactions said. They talk by phone frequently.

“They have chemistry,” said Garrett Ventry, a Republican operative who is close to the Trump world and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who was once under consideration to be Trump’s running mate. “They’re friends.”

Trump, though, is known to sour on people — even those close to him. His relationship with former Vice President Mike Pence essentially ended when Pence refused to block certification of the 2020