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Vice President JD Vance had no idea President Donald Trump had escalated the war in Iran until reporters tipped him off during a press conference in Hungary on Tuesday, according to reports.

A Washington Post reporter recommended Vance check his phone as he was on a stage with Trump ally Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, just after Trump had sent a serious threat warning on his Truth Social platform and said "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," if Iran does not make a deal by his 8 p.m. ET deadline, The Daily Beast reported.

The Post reporter asked Vance if he had any new information that signaled a potential deal could be likely.

"I don’t—unless I have a text message from Steve Witkoff," Vance said in response, mentioning Trump's Middle East envoy.

He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, then realized the situation had changed.

"I do have a message from Steve Witkoff," Vance said awkwardly after receiving the message.

But the moment became noticeably more awkward, The Beast reported. A Reuters reporter followed up and said he might want to really check his phone.

"I do think you have to read that text because we have reporting that the United States is striking some targets in Kharg Island," the Reuters reporter said. "You did say that the military objectives of this war have been achieved. So could you help us understand why the president is still threatening to attack every bridge and every power plant in Iran?"

Vance, who served in the Marines and was briefly deployed in Iraq, has previously said he was against long-term wars in the Middle East and has had to balance his previous public statements with his current role in the Trump administration.

He tried to respond to the question.

"So you asked about Kharg Island," Vance said. "You know, my understanding, you know, having talked to Pete (Hegseth) and General Caine about this, is that we were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island, and I believe we have done so."

"(The president)... has said very clearly, that we’re not going to strike energy and infrastructure targets until the Iranians either make a proposal that we can get behind or don’t make a proposal. But he’s given them until Tuesday, at 8 o’clock, so I don’t think the news on Kharg Island represents a change in strategy."

Every since Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired last week, it has left the unsettled question of whether she still has to sit for the upcoming congressional deposition, where among other things she was set to be asked about the Jeffrey Epstein case files.

The GOP-led commission has stated Bondi won't attend. In a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) revealed on Wednesday, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) demanded that he publicly clarify she does, in fact, still have to participate.

"We moved to subpoena Pam Bondi, and the Committee voted to approve this motion on a bipartisan basis, because the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) still has not complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act ... and because serious questions remain regarding the DOJ's non-compliance and their handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates while she was Attorney General," said the letter.

Bondi's dismissal as AG, they wrote, "does not diminish the Committee's legitimate oversight interests in seeking her sworn testimony or the need for accountability and information about files withheld from the public by the DOJ. On the contrary, it makes her sworn testimony even more important, especially with respect to actions she took as Attorney General, matters already under investigation, and decisions made under her leadership."

The handling of the Epstein files was reportedly at least one of the reasons Trump decided to remove Bondi, a longtime MAGA loyalist who oversaw a number of prosecutions of Trump's political enemies, from the Justice Department.

Bondi's abrupt reversal on the files, telling the public there was no "client list" and nothing new of note in the files after she had spent months hyping it up to Trump supporters, played a huge part in fracturing the MAGA coalition and reducing public support for the president. Since legislation was passed compelling the release of all Epstein files, Bondi also presided over the department as it slow-walked that process and blew through important legal deadlines.

"The American people deserve answers about whether Congress was misled and whether information is being withheld by the DOJ," said the letter, telling Comer, "We ask you to publicly reaffirm that Pam Bondi must appear on April 14 for a sworn deposition as ordered or face appropriate enforcement if she refuses to comply."