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JD Vance Joins Elite SEAL Trainees at BUD/S for Grueling 90-Minute Workout

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  December 23, 2025 1:30 PM

Vice President JD Vance at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in California completed a grueling 90-minute workout on Monday alongside Navy special warfare trainees at BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL), an elite program that produces the United States military’s Navy SEALs.

BUD/S is famous for its "Hell Week," where trainees are forced to do intense PT over a 5.5 day period with little sleep. Only about 20 percent of candidate make it through this section of BUD/S.

“Just finished PT with the Navy SEALs for 90 minutes,” Vance posted on X. “They took it easy on me and I still feel like I got hit by a freight train. So grateful to all of our warriors who keep us safe and keep the highest standards anywhere in the world!”

Several photos were taken during Vance's workout, although the faces of the SEAL candidates were blurred.

The Vice President on Tuesday took one of the several images from the workout, and replaced his face witha. viral image of the JD Vance meme, writing on X, "Fixed it."

This comes as the Trump administration, led by the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have called to a return to fitness standards for all members of the U.S. military. 

It also comes as RFK Jr. the Secratary of Health and Human Services alongside President Trump had vowed to "Make America Healthy Again."