Second lady Usha Vance has shared some rare insights into her marriage to Vice President JD Vance—including the role that she plays in his political career, as well as her thoughts on his future, amid furious speculation that he will run for president in 2028.
Speaking to NBC News in a wide-ranging interview, Usha, 40, who wed her husband in 2014, opened up about the couple's home life, revealing how they deal with disagreements, both personal and political, while balancing their responsibilities as parents to their children.
Usha, who had been registered as a Democrat until 2014, was quick to admit that she and her 41-year-old husband do not see eye-to-eye on every subject, explaining that their differing opinions actually help their marriage, because they push the couple to remain open-minded in all aspects of their lives.
She added that, because she is not a member of his team, she is able to push him on topics that his staffers might not otherwise engage in.
"I’m not his staffer. I’m not involved in this in any professional sense … There’s no expectation that we are going to see eye to eye on everything," she said.
"The expectation is that we are going to be open-minded and have a conversation, and that I’ll provide meaningful input from, you know, the perspective of someone who loves him and wants him to succeed. So even if we don’t agree, it’s—I think it’s always very productive."
In January, Usha and her spouse announced that they were expecting their fourth child together—a milestone that will see them becoming the first vice presidential family in modern history to welcome a baby while in office.
The last second lady to give birth during her husband's vice presidency was Ellen Colfax, wife of President Ulysses S. Grant's VP Schuyler Colfax, who gave birth to her son in 1870, according to the "Today" show.
Speaking to NBC News correspondent Kate Snow, Usha noted that she would have felt "complete" with the couple's three children, but said that both she and her husband believed if there was a chance that they could have another baby, they should take that opportunity.
"People have asked me if we're going to have a fourth baby, and I've never closed the door on that," she said. "I grew up in a family of two, and I thought that was a great number. And then I had two kids, and I thought—I didn't feel quite done, right? So I really wanted to have a third child.
"We did feel very complete with a third child, in many ways. We have our daughter, who's amazing, and it was great. And so I just wasn't sure. But as time passed, I realized that I was feeling more and more excited about that possibility.
"And so if there was a chance, I should take it," she continued. "I knew that I'd be happy if we only had three kids, and I knew that I'd be happy if we had four. And so here we are."
The couple's newborn, who is due in July, will be the younger sibling of the couple's sons, Ewan, 8, and Vivek, 6, as well as their daughter, Mirabel, 4.
Usha did concede that there are some strange differences about being pregnant while also serving as second lady, admitting that she feels much more obligated to dress up than she did while carrying her other three children.
"There's some differences, obviously. I have to dress up a lot more. I enjoyed my last pregnancy, there were a lot of sweat pants. I was working from home, sometimes put a blazer on over what was under," she joked.
"So there are some little differences. And then our transportation is rather different. I have to ride in the back seat now, so I get carsick all the time."
Addressing how her husband's role in President Donald Trump's administration has impacted the family's life at home, Usha noted that the couple have taken steps to try and maintain as much normalcy as possible, even after relocating to the official residence of the vice president at the start of January.
The vice president's official residence is located just inside Observatory Circle, on a grassy and very private plot, and is patrolled by armed guards and member of the Secret Service at all hours of the day.
However, Usha said that this hasn't prevented her from finding a sense of community in the local area, noting that she still carries out her regular trips to Costco, outings that she joked were something of an "adventure" on every occasion.
"We have our neighborhood shops. We have our Costco membership," she said. "We have all our favorite things that we get. [The kids] pick their lunchbox items from there. It’s just sort of a family tradition.
"It’s the kind of stuff that you don’t want to let go when you have a family life and you move into something like the Naval Observatory."
The move to Number One Observatory Circle marked a major milestone in the family's life—with Usha and her husband opting to put their family's Alexandria, VA, home on the market on Feb. 27, 2025—almost a month to the day after they moved into the official residence.
Just five days later, the home's status was changed to "pending" sale; and within three weeks, that deal had closed, with the final purchase price revealed as $1,867,025—$172,025 over Vance's $1.69 million list price, as first reported by Forbes.
Property records seen by Realtor.com® reveal that the purchase was carried out via an LLC called 9 EDR LLC, which lists Christopher Garcia as its managing member.
Garcia had a short-lived role in Trump's first administration, serving as the acting director of the Minority Business Development Agency in 2017, before moving on to a role as the acting deputy director of the U.S. Department of Commerce that he held until 2018.
Turning her attentions to her husband's political aspirations, Usha refused to confirm whether or not Vance has plans to run for president in 2028, when Trump leaves the White House, noting that his primary focus at the moment is the upcoming midterm elections.
"JD is very focused on the midterm elections right now, on all the things that are happening right this moment, which are obviously exceedingly important," she said.
"And so if you come back in 2027 and ask me, I’ll have a better sense of, you know, what he’s thinking in that way. But that’s not the priority in our conversations."
Usha noted that she has grown to feel more comfortable operating within Washington, DC's political circles—even when it comes to addressing her own beliefs and views, which she admits do not always align perfectly with those of Trump's administration.
Speaking about her former status as a registered Democrat, the second lady did not detail exactly what made her change her views, but said she still has "thoughts that fit very comfortably into one side or another," and that isn't something she's felt forced to supress.
"I do feel very comfortable in that no one has ever asked me to engage in any kind of litmus test on anything," she said. "And what I’ve found is that I was myself in 2014. I can be myself today. And I feel very comfortable in that world.
"I don’t feel like I have to walk around pretending anything of any sort. I didn’t think I had to do that [in 2014], actually. Sometimes I have thoughts that fit very comfortably into one side or another. Sometimes I have views that are way more idiosyncratic. And it’s a world that I think is actually rather accepting of that, since everyone knows that I really care greatly about JD’s success."
