Is Vance Trump's heir apparent?

Vice-president has emerged as key defender of the Maga flameand is backed by big tech. He is a 2028 candidate in all but name

- David Smith CONCORD and Nick Robins-Early

We did not have a lot of money," said JD Vance, placing hand on heart as he recalled his childhood in Middletown, Ohio, in the 1990s. "I was raised by a woman who struggled often to put food on the table and clothes on her back." There was a cry from the audience.

"Mamaw!" shouted a man. Smiling at the reference to his grandmother, the US vice-president said: "Everybody loves Mamaw. Most of all me." But there was a political point to the story: despite the hardships, Vance insisted, Mamaw never had to worry about violent crime until Democrats sabotaged law and order.

The 41-year-old used his routine appearance in Concord, North Carolina last September to present himself as a hardline warrior with a heart. It was a snapshot of a man who has emerged as Donald Trump's most aggressive defender and a 2028 presidential candidate by stealth.

It is a delicate balancing act with Vance trying to preserve the populist bombast of his boss while carving out a distinct persona of his own. In this he is aided by the one centre of power in which his connections surpass Trump's: Silicon Valley, where AI investments are driving the US economy and shaping the future.

On the first anniversary as first in line to the presidency, the vice-president finds himself promoting views he once opposed. On foreign intervention, free speech and government transparency, Vance has reversed course, shrugged off inconsistencies or simply ignored them all while positioning himself as Trump's heir.