Trump breaks with Vance over FlyDubai terror attack as president blames Iran and VP pumps brakes

President Donald Trump has split with his second in command on whether Iran was behind the foiled FlyDubai terror attack that nearly brought down a full passenger jet. 'On Flydubai, do you think Iran was responsible for that terrorist attack?' Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson asked on Monday. 'I do, I personally do,' Trump shot back. Earlier in the morning, Vice President JD Vance told reporters that he had not seen definitive evidence linking the plot to Tehran. Vance said that any conclusion that Iran was behind the hijacking would be a matter for intelligence officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe. 'In terms of involvement with Iran, that's something I defer to John Ratcliffe and some of the intelligence folks on,' Vance told reporters before boarding a flight to Alaska with his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance. 'I don't want to get ahead of any announcements there,' he continued. 'It's certainly something we're looking at, but I wouldn't say I've seen anything conclusive just yet.' Vance's response stood in stark contrast to that of Trump, who even suggested last week that 'based on what I'm hearing' Iran was linked to the terror plot. President Donald Trump said he personally believes that Iran is behind the terrorist hijacking of a FlyDubai flight headed for Tel Aviv last week. Thanks to the captain's heroics, the crisis was averted after passengers subdued the co-pilot assailant and the aircraft was diverted Just hours before, Vice President JD Vance said he does not know whether Iran was behind the attack, and said that was a determination to be made by the CIA and intelligence community A FlyDubai aircraft seen at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport The divergent answers between the president and vice president illustrate the tricky communication challenge facing Vance as he considers launching a campaign for president next year. Trump has publicly noted Vance's less-than-enthusiastic initial analysis of going to war with Iran, and reports indicate the VP privately opposed the conflict before it was launched. The conflict has become broadly unpopular and hurt the president's approval, though Vance still remains widely popular among Republicans. Trump has said Iran would be 'hit very hard' if it were responsible for the attack and suggested the co-pilot 'could've been' an agent of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Read More EXCLUSIVE The brutal reason Trump's top aides are fleeing the White House in 'highest turnover' in decades The Boeing 737 MAX was carrying over 170 people, mostly Israelis, when the Omani co-pilot, identified in reports as Hamam al-Hammami, attacked Indian captain Smit Machchhar with a cockpit crash axe. The name of the assailant has yet to be officially identified. During the ensuing struggle, Machchhar was able to unlock the cockpit door, and heroic passengers subdued the crazed hijacker after the aircraft had plummeted thousands of feet. Eventually, the flight was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the assailant was apprehended and Machchhar and other crew and passengers were tended to. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week during an interview with Fox News that the assailant 'underwent Islamist radical ​indoctrination.' Though, unlike Trump, he stopped short of linking the suspect to Iran. 'I think ‌it's ⁠too early to say whether he had any connections with Iran or with anyone else,' the Israeli leader added. Iran has denied responsibility for the attack. Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, the captain of FlyDubai flight FZ 1073 who saved the passengers and crew from a terrorist hijacking attempt on September 30, 2025 Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, meets Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national and flydubai pilot who is under treatment after he was stabbed by a colleague aboard a plane, in an unidentified location in the UAE Hamam al-Hammami's LinkedIn profile photo As of Monday evening, officials have not said what the motive for the attacks was. However, a source familiar with the investigation told NPR that the co-pilot had planned to crash the aircraft into Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport. The source also relayed that the co-pilot is believed to have worked alone, an assessment at odds with that of the president.