Trump leaves Vance feeling like Macaulay Culkin in ‘Home Alone’ - BERITAJA

As President Donald Trump landed successful Beijing for a high-stakes acme pinch Chinese President Xi Jinping, Vice President J.D. Vance joked that he felt for illustration Macaulay Culkin successful Home Alone.

Speaking to reporters successful Washington, Vance said, “As you know, the president conscionable landed successful China a fewer hours ago. You whitethorn cognize that because of Secret Service protocols, I don’t recreation extracurricular of the state pinch the president of the United States. So connected days for illustration today, I sometimes consciousness for illustration Macaulay Culkin successful Home Alone. I locomotion into the White House and it’s very quiet and nary one’s location and it takes maine a 2nd to recognize precisely what’s going on.” The remark drew laughter from reporters.

Vance described returning to a quiet White House while Trump and respective elder officials traveled overseas.

Why Vance stayed behind

Secret Service rules forestall the president and vice president from walking overseas together to protect the statement of succession. Vance cited the protocol arsenic the logic he remained successful Washington.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth joined Trump successful China. Eric Trump and Lara Trump besides traveled pinch the delegation alongside respective U.S. business leaders.

Some speculation surrounded Vance’s absence because of his past comments connected China. He antecedently called China the biggest threat to the United States and erstwhile said America “borrows money from Chinese peasants to bargain the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.” While location is nary denotation that those remarks affected the trip, the management apt wanted to debar distractions during talks successful Beijing.

The existent intent of Vance’s property conference

Vance’s Home Alone joke came earlier a awesome wellness attraction argumentation announcement. The Trump administration imposed a six-month frost blocking caller Medicare reimbursement enrollments for location wellness and hospice providers.

Working pinch Vance’s Anti-Fraud Task Force, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a nationwide moratorium connected caller Medicare enrollments successful those sectors.

CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said, “We’ve seen systemic and profoundly troubling fraud successful the hospice and location wellness space, pinch bad actors exploiting immoderate of our about susceptible Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer. Today we’re shutting the doorway connected fraud — preventing caller bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, analyse and region those already exploiting them.”

Oz said the argumentation expanded nationwide aft fraud investigations successful California pushed bad actors into different states. He besides noted erstwhile President Bill Clinton utilized a akin moratorium during the 1990s.

California deed pinch $1.3 cardinal medicaid deferral

Vance besides announced, “We’re announcing that the national authorities is deferring $1.3 cardinal successful Medicaid reimbursements from the authorities of California — and the elemental logic is because the authorities of California has not taken fraud very seriously.”

BREAKING: Vice President JD Vance announces the national authorities is deferring complete a cardinal dollars successful Medicaid reimbursements to California, citing a nonaccomplishment by the authorities to combat systemic fraud.

"We're announcing that the national authorities is deferring $1.3 cardinal in… pic.twitter.com/ZEYu0CLIeW

— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 13, 2026

The move followed an earlier deferral of much than $350 cardinal successful Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota. The management besides launched reviews of each state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Critics accused the management of targeting Democratic-led states, but Vance denied the effort was politically motivated.

What Vance was doing while Trump met Xi

While Trump met Xi successful Beijing, Vance remained successful Washington handling home argumentation issues. He was besides scheduled to recreation to Bangor, Maine, to talk anti-fraud efforts, according to NBC connection WABI-TV.

Rather than being sidelined, Vance utilized the infinitesimal to position himself arsenic the administration’s lead sound connected wellness attraction fraud while Rubio handled diplomacy abroad.