JD & Usha Vance's Family Vacation To Mt. Rushmore Blew Up In Their Faces

Happy 4th?! On July 4, 2025, Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, both took to their Instagram accounts to wish everyone a happy Independence Day and gush about their jaunt to Mt. Rushmore to commemorate the holiday. "This Fourth of July, we are celebrating our nation's 249th birthday in the great outdoors — hiking as a family in the Black Hills and at Teddy Roosevelt National Park, and reflecting on our history at Mt. Rushmore. Happy Independence Day!" the second lady wrote.

Unfortunately, neither their well-wishes nor their trek to the public landmark landed so well. As you may recall, that same day, President Trump's so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" was passed, and, as a result, an estimated $267 million in previously allocated conservation funding for national parks was promptly taken back. Alexa, play "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette. 

As one can imagine, many critics of the federal funding cut took to the comments section to voice their disdain for the Vances' apparent inability to read the room. "Wow, this is rich, considering your husband is part of an administration actively dismantling our access to and conservation of public land. What's worse, you know it and you know better," one Instagram user chastised Usha. Meanwhile, another quipped, "Imagine promoting national parks after defunding them." A third user wrote, "Hey kids, we wanted you to see this before it's drilled for resources or the president turns it into a parking lot." YIKES.

Unfortunately for JD Vance and Usha Vance, this isn't the first time one of their high-profile trips turned around to bite them. In March, fresh off the heels of the vice president's showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, the couple's family ski trip to Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont, was overshadowed by many disgruntled citizens of the Green Mountain State, who lined the streets in protest of the second family's arrival. As reported by Fox News, protestors waved Ukrainian flags and held signs that read, "Go ski in Russia," "Stand with Ukraine," and "Trump serves Putin." Something tells us the soured vacation plans didn't exactly help ease the stress in the Vances' marriage. (It's just one of the many signs that JD and Usha's marriage might be in trouble.)

Alas, things only got worse when JD decided to tag along on Usha's solo sojourn to Greenland, initially billed as a cultural trip for the second lady. Instead, the couple merely touched down in Greenland, only long enough for the vice president to publicly berate Denmark, before the wheels of Air Force 2 were right back up. "Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland," JD declared in a speech he gave to troops at Pituffik Space Base (via X). The vice president's remarks proved to be so cutting that Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen released a video reprimanding JD on X hours later. "We do not appreciate the tone in which this is being delivered. This is not how you speak to close allies," he warned. Suffice to say, JD's attempt at making the Greenland trip with Usha look rosy totally backfired.