One topic almost certain to come up is Iran.

Hostilities in the Middle East have been heating up again this week as US forces launched a wave of new strikes on Iranian targets on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump described the strikes as a “very heavy attack", but said the renewed fighting would not last "too long".

The strikes prompted Iran to retaliate against allied bases in the region used by the US, including in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

Vice-President JD Vance, who has played a key role in past negotiations between the US and Iran, told Fox News this week that the strikes on Iran were in response to Iran trying to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

He called Iranian leadership “really, really crazy” and said they're willing to do anything to restrict the flow of oil through the strait.

Vice-President JD Vance is due to appear shortly for this afternoon's White House press briefing - the first in weeks.

It had been due to begin at 13:00 local time (18:00 BST) but appears to be running a few minutes behind.

Image source, Getty Images

Karoline Leavitt's departure as White House press secretary creates a major opening in Donald Trump's administration.

Trump has called Leavitt one of his "most trusted aides", and her replacement has not yet been announced.

Here's a look at some potential candidates for the job:

• Trump's former personal lawyer Alina Habba
• Influential conservative podcaster, media personality and former Trump staffer Katie Miller
• White House deputy press secretary and former beauty queen Anna Kelly
• Former television anchor Sage Steele
• White House comms director and long-time Trump adviser Steven Cheung
• Former spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin
• Political commentator Scott Jennings

It's also possible no successor will be named, with senior officials continuing to run infrequent briefings instead like when Leavitt was on maternity leave.

Tom Bateman
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Reuters

Here in the White House briefing room journalists are packed in the aisles as closely as a metro train at rush hour.

It could be a bit of an unruly briefing with the vice president due at the podium. When former press secretary Karoline Leavitt was on maternity leave earlier this year, we saw something similar as JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood in.

Unused to managing a packed press room in the Trump White House, Rubio described trying to arbitrate between competing questioners as “chaos”.

There’s a lot to try to get out of the administration today: Details about this week’s deadly escalation with Iran, the US trade war with Canada, the looming midterm elections with the president’s tanking approval ratings, to mention a few.

Oh, and of course there are Vance’s podcast comments this week about the Antichrist and whether the end of the world is nigh.

Image source, Reuters

This is not the first time Vice-President JD Vance has hosted the White House press briefing.

A rotating roster of people stood in for former Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt while she was on maternity leave earlier this year, with Vance hosting the briefing on 19 May and 18 June.

Pressed on the Iran war in his May briefing, the vice-president said it was "not a forever war" but did not offer a clear roadmap for when the conflict might end.

He also reiterated his "red line" that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon.

In the June briefing, he defended the "memorandum of understanding" between the US and Iran and brushed aside a question about whether Donald Trump had positioned him as the "fall guy" if the deal collapsed.

Image source, Reuters

Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stepped down from the role at the end of August to spend time with her young children and family, calling the decision "bittersweet".

It followed the birth of her second child, a girl, in May. She also has a two-year-old son with husband Nicholas Riccio.

Leavitt said "being a mother and welcoming a new baby while working in one of the most demanding jobs in the world has been the most rewarding yet challenging season of my life, to say the least".

US President Donald Trump called it "a decision I totally understand and respect".

He added that Leavitt would now become "one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party".

Leavitt has since told the media she will return to work for the so-called Super-Pac "Maga Inc." - a form of political committee.

Leavitt, 29, took the job as White House Press Secretary last year, becoming the youngest person ever in the role - it remains unclear who will replace her.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Vice-President JD Vance will be back at the lectern for the first White House briefing in more than a month.

Vance’s appearance comes at a time when the White House is without a formal spokesperson following Karoline Leavitt’s departure from the administration at the end of August.

While Washington has been buzzing with rumours, there has so far been no replacement named for the job, among the highest profile in government.

It’s not a first for the vice-president. He also conducted a briefing on 19 May, during Leavitt’s maternity leave.

He was one of several administration officials to conduct a briefing around that time, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

The briefing will almost certainly begin with some opening remarks from the vice-president, followed by questions.

Questions about Iran and the economy are likely to take up a large part of the briefing, as well as domestic politics and the upcoming midterm elections.

Stay with us for updates from the briefing.