Up-Close Photos Of JD Vance Make His Eyeliner Obsession Undeniable

Since almost the very moment that Donald Trump announced him as his vice presidential running mate, JD Vance has faced allegations of using eyeliner. He did himself no favors at quelling the rumors when Vance's inaugural portrait was released in January 2025, shortly after he took his position in office. The image had an uncanny feel to it — the background looked almost like AI, and the VP's eyes were tinted in a way that almost looked gray.

When his portrait was released online, members of the Twitterati had a field day bashing Vance for seemingly adding eyeliner, as the upper waterline of his eyelids looked dark black. "Rocking the smokey eye!!" one person joked on X, formerly Twitter. Others were perplexed by his makeup strategy, or lack thereof. "What make-up artist worth salt would apply eyeliner and not pluck them eyebrows?" another person asked.

Before that, there had been plenty of chatter surrounding JD's use of eyeliner, and his wife, Usha Vance, was even asked point-blank if her husband had any assistance in achieving the darkened look. "They're all natural. I've always been jealous of those lashes," Usha told Puck in August 2024 via a representative. Despite her insistence that JD doesn't use eyeliner, some close-up photos make it seem more than likely that he uses some type of makeup.

After a fatal shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis became nationwide news in January, JD Vance addressed the media in the White House briefing room. The veep overflowed with animated facial expressions as he defended ICE while speaking to the press. Vance must've known that the session would be widely covered, as he appeared to cake on the eyeliner for the occasion. One shot captured him with his mouth agape and eyebrows raised, which helped embellish the dark lining on the upper part of his eyes.

Everyone was saying the same thing about JD Vance's eyeliner when he participated in the vice presidential debate in October 2024. It was his only debate against Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz, and while there was plenty of online discourse about his talking points, social media predominantly focused on Vance's appearance. "I just wish he, or his makeup artist, would teach me how [to] put my eyeliner on as well as JD. I'm so jealous how perfect his eyeliner always is," one person quipped on X at the time.

Leading up to the 2024 presidential election, JD Vance held multiple rallies around the country. In July 2024, he stopped at Arizona Christian University in Glendale to address a group of republican supporters. Multiple pictures were taken from a low angle as he stood at the podium, catching not only the intensity in the vice presidential candidate's eyes but also highlighting the dark eyeliner. Some may debate whether he actually uses the makeup product, but the darkness tracing the edges of his eyelids was unmistakable.

On January 22, 2026, JD Vance continued to do damage control for the Trump administration as he spoke to a group of local leaders in Minnesota regarding the influx of ICE activity in the region. Vance's eyeliner stood out way too much; despite constantly squinting as he furrowed his brow while speaking to the media, the dark shading around the edges of his eyes was still visible. In fact, it almost appeared that the veep had a dusting of mascara on his bottom lashes, too.

While JD Vance spoke to a crowd gathered at an airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania in December 2025, he shot a side-eyed glance during a pause in his address. The eyeliner effect and his look of consternation gave the impression that Vance had feathered on eyeshadow. Vance's gray sideburns also stood out. Not only did his beard have the salt-and-pepper look, but the sides had turned a stark silver since his time in office. That only magnified the black region covering the edges of his eyes, as the dark lining on his upper waterline was evident.

JD Vance looked stately while speaking to a crowd in North Carolina in September 2025, standing in front of an American flag like General Patton. The vice president made sure that the red, white, and blue were represented in his suit and tie, as well. There was also an accent of blue with his bright eyes, and more than an accent of black was present with what seemed to be eyeliner. Perhaps at a distance, those in attendance may have missed it, but when photographers zoomed in, it became obvious that the thin contours near Vance's lashes looked darkened.

JD Vance was on hand when the U.S. and Armenia signed a joint statement for nuclear cooperation in February 2026. A photo was taken of the former senator holding a copy of the agreement with a proud, youthful look across his face, as if he were a child presenting a good report card to his parents. Before heading over to Armenia, Vance appeared to have stopped at Hot Topic for some makeup inspo, as the possible eyeliner surrounding his blue eyes was more apparent than ever. If you trimmed the beard and added a few inches to his swept-over hairstyle, the vice president's smoky eyes would make him a dead ringer for a bassist in an emo band.