US Vice President JD Vance’s X account on Tuesday posted and subsequently deleted a message acknowledging the Armenian genocide after he attended a wreath-laying ceremony in Armenia.
The original post stated that Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, attended the ceremony to honor the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide, a term that broke with Trump administration policy.
Armenians have long sought international recognition for the 1915-1917 killings in the Ottoman era as genocide, which they say left some 1.5 million of their people dead.
Turkey -- the Ottoman Empire's successor state -- strongly rejects that the massacres, imprisonment and forced deportation of Armenians from 1915 amounted to a genocide.
The US has avoided using the word "genocide" to describe the events due to concerns over damaging relations with Turkey, a key regional ally. However, former President Joe Biden in 2021 officially used the term “genocide" when describing the Ottoman Empire's persecution of the Armenian community, sparking outrage from Ankara.
A spokesperson for the vice president attributed Tuesday’s post to staff who were not part of the official delegation.
The White House later clarified there was no change in policy, referring back to a previous statement issued on Armenian Remembrance Day. Vance’s account reposted a more neutral message, including a photo of his handwritten note in the guest book: "In solemn remembrance of the lives lost, we honor the resilience and enduring spirit of the Armenian people."