Vance family vacations in southwest North Dakota on Fourth of July; VP touts Big Beautiful Bill

Vice President JD Vance traveled to North Dakota for a Fourth of July vacation visit with his family.

Vance flew into Dickinson on Air Force Two shortly after 9:30 a.m. Mountain time. He planned to head to Medora for a short private visit. No public appearances were scheduled, though he met with media at the airport.

Vance said he planned to get out hiking and "try to dig up some dinosaur bones" while he was in the state for the day.

Vance said North Dakota is a part of the country he has never been to, and that being the "vice president of the whole United States" he wanted to come get a sense of what makes North Dakota "such a beautiful place." 

"You know, one of the things I know very, very personally growing up in a part of the country that sometimes gets ignored and left behind, is that a lot of times, states like this don't get as much attention from national leadership," Vance said. "So I thought, what better day than the Fourth of July to come to North Dakota and show people we care about them, we're rooting for them."

Vance said he already had plans to be in South Dakota for the holiday, making a stop in North Dakota an "easy trip." He and his family were in the Rapid City and Mount Rushmore areas of South Dakota's Black Hills on Thursday.

Big Beautiful Bill

During his brief meeting with reporters at the Dickinson airport, Vance -- alongside U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. -- focused heavily on the "Big Beautiful Bill" that passed Congress on Thursday and was to be signed Friday by President Donald Trump.

Vance said the bill will make it easier to build data centers in America, make it easier to invest in oil and gas drilling in America and make it easier for Americans to build wealth -- all of which he said will benefit North Dakota. Vance said the bill was only the start of what the administration would do for Americans.

"That's a great thing about America's constitutional republic ... we're always working towards that more perfect union," Vance said. "So whether it's job training, whether it's border security, whether it's tax relief, I'm sure the president is going to have a lot of ideas in the years to come. The Big, Beautiful Bill is a very important step to making our fellow citizens' lives better, but it's hardly going to be the only thing the president works on over the next 3 ½ years."

Former North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer, who served as federal agriculture secretary under President George W. Bush, told the Tribune that the benefits of the bill for North Dakota remain to be seen. He said that North Dakota cut government spending in the late 1990s in a similar way to what the federal government is doing now, to the benefit of the North Dakota economy.

He said the big difference is that North Dakota took a softer approach to government spending cuts that allowed the state to garner public support, something he feels the Trump administration does not have.

"Because of the heavy-handed approach -- 'It's my way or no way,'  'I'm the only one that knows anything,' you know, that kind of approach -- we have to make sure that the benefits of the bill will actually get delivered," Schafer said. "Right now, we're not seeing the public support that's needed to get this stuff done that's in the bill."

Recent polls, including one from conservative media outlet Fox News, show that the bill is not popular with voters. Vance said he felt Americans would come around on the bill and that it would mark the "beginning of the golden age of the United States of America."

"I think when people realize how much this benefits the people of North Dakota, the people of the United States, this bill is going to be very popular," Vance said. "Rome wasn't built in a day, but I think you're going to see a lot of great progress very quickly now ..."

Hoeven said Vance played a large role in getting the bill passed.

"We brought the vice president in -- it must be four or five in the morning -- he was in those negotiations to get this thing done. So he didn't just provide the deciding vote. He actually helped put this together." Hoeven said.

Vance called the passage of the bill a "team effort."

Causing a stir

Vance's motorcade was flown into Bismarck on Thursday and driven to Dickinson. The large airplane caused a stir on social media.

The Federal Aviation Administration imposed "temporary flight restrictions for VIP movement" in the areas of the Dickinson and Rapid City airports during Vance's visit, banning other aircraft for security reasons.

The visit also caused a stir in Dickinson, with over 40 cars backed up near Dickinson's airport waiting for the vice president's motorcade to pass. Some were there to see the motorcade, while others with boats attached to their trucks appeared to have simply been caught up in the controlled chaos of a vice presidential visit.

The Kappes family -- a family of four who came out to see the vice president's motorcade -- said they wanted to watch because "you don't get too many chances" to see the vice president of the United States.

"I'm a huge supporter of the president and the vice president, so, yeah, this was a great opportunity," said 19-year-old Luke Kappes. "What's a better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than see an American patriot?"

One of the places Vance visited was the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library under construction at Medora. Executive Director Robbie Lauf said hosting Vance and his family was an honor.

“In the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt, we welcome all who want to dare greatly, think boldly, care deeply and live passionately -- just like TR,” he said in a statement.