NEWYou can now listen to articles!
EXCLUSIVE: New photos obtained by Digital show Vice President JD Vance training with U.S. Navy SEALs in California — a 90-minute workout the vice president later said left him feeling like he’d been “hit by a freight train.”
Images show Vance carrying logs, rowing in the ocean, running on the beach and climbing a rope obstacle course alongside a group of seals.
“Just finished PT with the Navy SEALs for 90 minutes,” Vance wrote in an X post Monday. “They took it easy on me and I still feel like I got hit by a freight train.”
Vance used the moment to praise the military’s special operations forces, writing that he is “so grateful to all of our warriors who keep us safe and keep the highest standards anywhere in the world.”
HEGSETH WORKS OUT WITH US TROOPS IN MALAYSIA AS WAR DEPARTMENT VOWS ‘WE WILL BE FIT, NOT FAT’
Vice President JD Vance and SEALS carried logs in strength training. (Vice President J.D. Vance’s office )
Vice President JD Vance runs alongside Navy SEALs on Coronado Beach, California. (Vice President JD Vance’s office)
Vance said he felt like he had been “hit by a freight train” after working out with SEALs. (Vice President J.D. Vance’s office )
The vice president participated in multiple stages of SEALs training at a facility in Coronado, California, per a source familiar. Many of the SEALs’ faces have been blurred to protect their identities.
Vance is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in the Iraq War. He enlisted in 2003 and deployed to Iraq in 2005 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, where he worked in public affairs.
TRUMP UNVEILS ‘GOLDEN FLEET’ OF NAVY BATTLESHIPS, TOUTS THEM AS ‘MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY’ EVER BUILT
The vice president previously has said his time in uniform shaped his views on national security, the costs of war and the responsibility leaders bear when sending troops into harm’s way.
Vice President JD Vance climbed a ropes course while training with Navy SEALs. (Vice President J.D. Vance’s office )
Vance poses alongside SEALs trainers in front of an American flag. (Vice President J.D. Vance’s office )
Navy SEALs are among the U.S. military’s most elite special operations forces, known for grueling physical standards and missions ranging from counterterrorism to maritime operations.
The post aligns with broader messaging from Trump administration officials emphasizing physical readiness across the armed forces.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE APP
War Secretary Pete Hegseth has emphasized U.S. troops need to be “fit, not fat,” even up to the general and flag-officer level. He has frequently highlighted physical readiness in public remarks and has taken part in workouts with service members during visits to military units around the world.
