U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) and Apple CEO Tim Cook (not pictured) present Apple's announcement of a $100 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 6, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
When Vice President JD Vance turned 41 on Saturday, August 2, he celebrated with a family boating trip in his native Ohio. And according to reporting in The Guardian and later, the Daily Beast, Vance went to great lengths for the celebration: He contacted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asked for the water level to be raised.
Guardian reporters Stephanie Kirchgaessner and David Smith explain, "JD Vance's team had the Army Corps of Engineers in Louisville, Ohio, take the unusual step of changing the outflow of a lake to accommodate a recent boating excursion on a family holiday, The Guardian has learned. The request from the U.S. Secret Service was made to 'support safe navigation' of the U.S. vice-president’s security detail for an August outing on the Little Miami River, according to a statement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Vance was spotted in the south-western Ohio area on 2 August, his 41st birthday, according to social media posts that noted he was seen canoeing on the river, a tributary that Caesar Creek Lake feeds into."
The reporters add, "One source with knowledge of the matter who communicated with the Guardian anonymously alleged that the outflow request for the Caesar Creek Lake was not just to support the vice-president’s Secret Service detail, but also, to create 'ideal kayaking conditions.'"
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Vance's weekend boating trip is generation a lot of comments on X, formerly Twitter — many of them downright scathing.
Journalist and former Columbus Dispatch reporter Darrel Rowland tweeted, "JD Vance’s team had water level of Little Miami River raised last week for family's boating trip, per The Guardian. Incident raises questions of exploitation of public services, but Secret Service says it was requested for 'safe navigation.'"
Literature professor Anne Margaret Daniel commented, "JD Vance had the level of the Ohio River raised by draining part of a lake so his family rafting trip would have plenty of water ('for safety' was the excuse). We need a new word for the worst person, the absolute worst person."
In a separate tweet, Daniel wrote, "All these things, really: sick and selfish, and giving not a single solitary damn for the environment in any way (which is to me demonic)."
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X user Andrew Coyle sarcastically posted, "They're against the elites. JD Vance's team had water level of Ohio river raised for family's boating trip."
Another X user, Piyush Mittal, remarked, "JD Vance’s team had water level of Ohio river raised for family's boating trip. Power has really gone to his head, hasn't it?"
X user Dane Southard wrote, "You have Got To Be f------ Kidding Me. Taxpayers paid for JD Vance to have the Army Corps of engineers Raise the water level of an Ohio river, JUST so he could improve the kayaking conditions for his birthday outing."
Canadian X user Asa Rochester commented, "For better or worse you don't have to worry about that kind of stuff in Canada."
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