President Donald Trump celebrated the arrival of Vice President JD Vance and wife Usha Vance’s fourth baby.
“Congratulations! A perfect baby boy for the wonderful Vance family,” Trump, 80, wrote via Truth Social on Monday, July 20, sharing a photo of two of JD and Usha’s kids with their newest sibling.
JD, 41, and Usha, 40, welcomed Ewan, 8, Vivek, 6, and Mirabel, 4, before son Alec was born on Sunday, July 19.
“We are excited to announce that our baby boy, Alec Neel Vance, was born this morning. Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother,” read a statement from the couple on Sunday. “The incredible military doctors and staff members of Walter Reed Medical Center and the White House Medical Unit have been a blessing. We are deeply thankful for all they have done for our family.”
The pair announced Usha’s pregnancy in January, but they weren’t always on the same page about having a fourth child. JD claimed that the second lady changed her mind after conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at age 31 last year.
“As my wife held Charlie Kirk’s widow on the first day of her terrible sorrow, Erika [Kirk] told Usha between sobs that she regretted having only two kids with Charlie,” JD wrote in his new book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, which was released in June.
JD expanded on how the tragedy affected his family.
“For years, I’d asked Usha to have another baby, and for years, she told me she was done, especially now that public service had elevated us into the national spotlight,” JD continued in his memoir. “Something changed for Usha, and not long after we buried my friend, she became pregnant with our fourth child, a boy.”
He added: “I don’t know why God does things like this. But, I am grateful to him that there will soon be another source of joy in our lives, another beautiful soul to wonder at and fall in love with, God’s beautiful creation.”
Usha, for her part, denied that she shut down the idea of having more kids.
“People have asked me if we’re going to have a fourth baby, and I’ve never closed the door on that,” she told NBC News in March. “I grew up in a family of two, and I thought that was a great number. And then I had two kids, and I thought, ‘I didn’t feel quite done. I really wanted to have a third child.’”
She continued: “We did feel very complete with a third child, in many ways. We have our daughter, who’s amazing, and it was great, and so, I just wasn’t sure. But as time passed, I realized that I was feeling more and more excited about that possibility. If there was a chance, I should take it. I knew that I’d be happy if we only had three kids, and I knew that I’d be happy if we had four. And so, here we are.”
