Im JD Vances British Sherpa mentor. This is what he REALLY thinks of Europe, the Ukraine war and Putin - and heres the truth about THAT White House showdown with Zelensky

JD Vance has zero contempt for Europe and its people - but does have a problem with the out of touch EU technocrat leaders who have neglected values and freedoms that make it worth defending, his British mentor has said.

Cambridge academic Dr James Orr has been dubbed JD Vance’s English philosopher king’ and Donald Trumps Vice-President fondly calls him his UK Sherpa.

Leaked messages revealed Mr Vance has called European nations pathetic freeloaders. 

Dr Orr has said that far from being anti-European, Mr Vance, his wife Asha and their three children chose the UK as the destination for their family holiday in 2023. He has also spent time with him in France.

But the British academic has explained the frustration his friend feels towards Europes political leaders and having to bail out Ukraine and NATO with US tax dollars.

The British professor said: I think their view is, look, you know what? What are we paying for? If were subsidising defence budgets for countries that have forgotten what it is theyre defending, forgotten the values that unite Europe and America like free speech, freedom of association, free assembly, free and fair elections, then theres a problem.

Dr Orr and Vice-President Vance are close friends who first met around seven years ago through mutual friends. 

They were together when the President was shot in Pennsylvania last July. They also dined at the Senate in Washington DC just before Mr Vance was called to Mar-a-Lago and asked to be Mr Trumps running mate. 

They text and chat on the phone regularly, including, it seems, about him berating Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in what is one of the most talked about political moments in years.

Dr Orr said: I can answer that very straightforwardly. There was no planning before that meeting. No pre-meditation. It was spontaneous. A freewheeling meeting that probably shouldn’t have happened in front of the cameras.

He also claimed:

• Donald Trump is not a monarchical, tyrannical figure;
• JD Vance is no fan of Putin  - but wants peace in Ukraine because he is worried about how China and Russia have grown closer since 2022 invasion;
• The Signal-gate leak of messages will be forgotten in a month. But they do show that Trumps administration are saying the same things in public and private;

The extraordinary moment President Trump and US Vice President JD Vance clashed with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. His friend Dr James Orr has said it was categorically not planned - and hinted, perhaps, it should not have happened on camera

U.S. Vice President and veteran JD Vance at Marine Corps Base Quantico on March 26

Dr James Orr is a close friend of Mr Vance, who calls him his British sherpa

Speaking to the BBCs Today Podcast with Nick Robinson and Amol Rajan, Dr Orr was clear he knew it was not a pre-planned attack on Zelensky for a fact - and crucially did not deny it was because JD Vance had told him.

If Trump was the monarchical, tyrannical figure and JD, the vice president was simply his ventriloquist dummy, then you wouldnt have seen this. He wouldnt have felt permission to be as outspoken as he was in that meeting, he added. 

Dr Orr, Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the University of Cambridge, has given an interview revealing what his friend really thinks of Europe, Ukraine, Russia and China - and how Donald Trump has empowered him in his role.

US Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance before a working lunch, on the sidelines of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit on February 11, 2025 in Paris, France

He claims that JD Vance is not a fan of Vladimir Putin and Russia - but is opposed to the war-mongering pushed by some previous White House administrations and their advisors.

Peace in Ukraine will make a wider conflict less likely because the Trump White House is most worried about how China and Russia have grown closer since 2022, he says. 

He is not at all a fan of Putin. He is not at all a fan of Russia, Dr Orr told the BBC.

But one of his great complaints is that the Ukraine War breaks the cardinal rule of American international relations – the Ukraine War has brought Russia and China together. That is catastrophic. 

De-escalation will mean him biting his tongue about Putin and Russia. 

But the fact of the matter is that we are closer to getting on that path to peace since the war began in February 2022.

Leaked messages on Monday showed Vance lamenting having to bail out Europe again as US officials discussed military action that would unblock trade routes in the Suez Canal, where 40 per cent of European trade runs through compared to three per cent of US trade.

Pete Hegseth, United States Secretary of Defense, subsequently said he shared the loathing of European freeloading and claimed the situation was pathetic.

Trump then agreed with the comments, asking why Europe is in for $100billion, and were in for $350billion on aid for Ukraine.

Dr Orr has played down the crisis over the leaked WhatsApp messages.

In a month’s time. Nobody will be talking about this, he predicted.

Vance and Hegseth branded European nations as pathetic freeloaders in private messages

The messages were leaked after a journalist was mistakenly added to a group chat with top Trump officials

He went on: The interpretation of the group chat, I think, is very consistent with the  the Munich speech. The tenor of the Munich speech was that: you leaders are not paying attention to the values that have made you, Europe, worth defending.

I dont think the Special Relationship has been that great for us, to be honest. But at the same time, you look at the numbers. $1.3 trillion a year, or whatever it is on NATOs annual budget America covers $830billion of it at a time when it is reaching eye watering levels of national debt. Theres poverty all over the place, particularly in those places that are close to JD and to the MAGA movement. 

When he talks about Europe, and certainly when he talked about Europe in the group chat, hes not thinking the European people, us Europeans. 

Hes thinking specifically of what he thinks of as out of touch EU technocrats who are increasingly unaccountable to their electorate, who are increasingly unpopular with their own voters.

Dr Orr says that Mr Vance is upset at European countries failure to protect basic democratic freedoms.

In fact, he says, that the messages in the so-called Signal scandal, shows how JD Vance and other senior members of the Trump administration are saying the same things in public as they do in private. 

If you noticed from the group chat, it struck me that he came across as thoughtful, independently minded collegiate, not forcing his you know, he was dissenting, respectfully from the position, very subtly, Dr Orr said.

We often worry about the inauthenticity of politicians. Theyre saying different stuff behind closed doors.

Actually, what the group chat told us is that theres total consistency in their approach, in their thinking. It is really hard to put a cigarette paper between their public utterances and what emerged from the group chat.