Vice President JD Vance and his family joined the festivities at the Winter Olympics on Friday – but no one appeared to have more fun than his young daughter.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are now well underway, with the official opening ceremony kickstarting the sporting extravaganza in Milan-Cortina on Friday afternoon.
Vance, 41, has been seen at a variety of events in Milan, Italy, alongside pregnant wife Usha Vance, 40, and children – Ewan, eight, Vivek, six, and Mirabel, four.
In January, Vance and Usha announced in an Instagram post that they are also expecting another son – as part of what many Donald Trump supporters are branding the ‘MAGA baby boom.’
Earlier today, the Second Family attended the figure skating ice dance-rhythm event at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, where young Mirabel showed her unrivaled enthusiasm for the sport.
In adorable pictures of the family sitting in the stands, Mirabel, who switched between perching on both of her parents’ laps, was seen excitedly cheering for the US figure skaters.
In one sweet snap, the four-year-old – who was wearing an official $89.50 Ralph Lauren Winter Olympics sweater, bright red coat, gray leggings, metallic silver skirt and gold sneakers – was seen exaggeratedly raising her arms out as she cheered on the team.
Other glimpses of her cheeky personality came as she gazed down inquisitively towards the ice, reached back to hold on to her father’s neck and shouted encouragingly to the athletes.
Vice President JD Vance and his family joined the festivities at the Winter Olympics on Friday – but no one appeared to have more fun than his young daughter Mirabel
Other glimpses of her cheeky personality came as she gazed down inquisitively towards the ice, reached back to hold on to her father’s neck and shouted encouragingly to the athletes
Vance previously quipped that although his wife ‘is not a sports fan’ she ‘obsessively makes us watch the Olympics’ every two years.
He cited that as evidence of the way the competition, ‘really brings the country together. Everybody is rooting for you guys and everybody’s cheering for you.’
Despite the Vance family enjoying the sporting event, it got off to a rocky start.
Team USA will be competing at the game amid a tumultuous political background back home in the United States – one that has spilled over into Italy.
Just days before the curtain-raiser, protestors swept through the streets of Milan, demonstrating the deployment of the US’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the Olympics.
The demonstrations occurred just days before Vance arrived in Italy to lead a high-profile delegation from Trump’s administration at the games.
The International Olympic Committee was forced to issue an urgent plea to fans amid the presence of Vance’s attendance at the Winter Games.
President Kirsty Coventry told spectators at Friday’s opening ceremony to refrain from jeering the American Vice President.
The Second Family attended the figure skating ice dance-rhythm event at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, where young Mirabel put on a cheeky display
The four-year-old was wearing an official $89.50 Ralph Lauren Winter Olympics sweater, bright red coat, gray leggings, metallic silver skirt and gold sneakers
Vance previously quipped that although his wife ‘is not a sports fan’ she ‘obsessively makes us watch the Olympics’ every two years
‘I hope that the opening ceremony is seen by everyone as an opportunity to be respectful of each other,’ she said, when asked if, given the ‘geopolitical backdrop’ of the games, she thought it would be understandable if Americans were jeered during the opening ceremony.
‘No one is asking what country they come from or what religion. They are all just hanging out,’ she added, via The Daily Beast.
‘It was a real opportunity to put into perspective how we could all be. And so, for me, I hope that the opening ceremony will do that and will be a reminder for everyone how we could be.’
The ICE agents to be deployed to Milan are not from the same unit as the immigration agents cracking down in Minnesota and other U.S. cities.
Yet, the news of the deployment of ICE agents has provoked a backlash in Italy. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala has said they were not welcome.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi has been called to Parliament to testify about the deployment this week.
