‘Asking about their Facebook’: JD Vance’s UK visit sees Secret Security harass locals
Vice President JD Vance’s visit last week to a small community in Southern England has been met with fierce protests from locals, and while most of the opposition stems from the Trump administration’s policy positions, a number of locals are growing increasingly frustrated with Vance's accompanying security detail, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
“We’ve had a curtailment of our freedoms here, just by his mere presence, in terms of where we can walk and where we can be,” said Steve Akers, deputy mayor of Chipping Norton, just over three miles away from Vance’s vacation home in Dean, speaking with the Wall Street Journal.
“And the American Secret Service knocking on people’s doors and asking about their Facebook profiles.”
Vance and his family are staying at an 18th-century manor house in Dean, which he rents for nearly $11,000 a week. He’s characterized the visit as both a family vacation and a diplomatic visit, and is expected to return to the United States on Friday, marking the trip as the vice president’s longest since assuming office.
His ten-day visit, however, has already caused chaos in the small English community, as well as communities outside of Dean, sparking further outrage for longtime residents.
“Roads near the tiny hamlet of Dean, where the Vance family has been staying at an 18th-century manor, have been closed and only residents are allowed through,” wrote Roya Shahidi with the Wall Street Journal.
“Some in Dean have complained that local police or the U.S. Secret Service have knocked on their doors to verify their identity and even ask about their social-media profiles, according to local officials.”
A no-fly zone was also established over the Dean community and beyond, impacting the British television personality Jeremy Clarkson, former host of the popular British Broadcasting Corporation show “Top Gear,” who owns a farm near Dean, the subject of an ongoing reality show “Clarkson’s Farm,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
‘I want Ivanka’: Trump finds bizarre role to tempt daughter back to White House
President Donald Trump has found a new role for his daughter Ivanka in his second administration—Ultimate Fighting Championship event coordinator for a historic White House bout.
The 43-year-old former senior adviser, who largely dropped out of the political spotlight after being front and center during her father's first presidency, is now spearheading plans for the first UFC fight ever held on White House grounds.
"When [Trump] called me and asked me to do it, he said, 'I want Ivanka in the middle of this,'" UFC CEO Dana White revealed on CBS Mornings Tuesday. "So Ivanka reached out to me, and her and I started talking about the possibilities, where it would be and, you know, I put together all the renderings."
The president, a devoted UFC fan who has attended multiple fights cage-side with his eldest daughter, has been floating the White House fight concept for months. White confirmed the event will take place July 4, 2026, launching America's 250th birthday celebration.
"It is definitely going to happen," declared White, whose influence with young male voters reportedly helped Trump's 2024 victory. CBS News confirmed a White House source verified the event planning.
Ivanka's return marks a dramatic shift after her self-imposed political exile. Following four years as a senior adviser managing economic initiatives, she rejected involvement in Trump's 2024 campaign, citing the "darkness" of politics.
"I love policy and impact. I hate politics. And unfortunately, the two are not separable," she explained on the Him & Her podcast before Trump's January inauguration. "I know the cost, and it's a price that I'm not willing to make my kids bear."
While Trump weathered controversies and global tensions, Ivanka maintained distance, attending elite social events like Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's Venice wedding. However, the opportunity to organize a groundbreaking sports spectacle—with guidance from her casino-owning father who previously hosted UFC events—apparently proved irresistible for the mother of three.
