Secretary of State Marco Rubio is privately telling allies that Vice President JD Vance is the clear frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, sources tell Politico. Rubio is reportedly prepared to back Vance if he decides to run, underscoring how quickly the GOP is looking beyond President Trump's first year in office to the next round of party leadership.
Trump has publicly floated both Vance and Rubio as his potential successors, even suggesting the two could share a ticket. The pair, former Senate colleagues who are said to be close friends, have downplayed any rivalry. Rubio, for his part, has expressed support for Vance both privately and publicly. "He will do anything he can just to support the vice president in that effort," one confidant says of Rubio.
Vance, for his part, recently called Rubio "my best friend in the administration" but said that it was "premature" to talk too much about 2028 "because we're still so early," per the New York Post. "If we get to a point where something else is in [the offing], let's handle it then," Vance added during an interview on the Pod Force One podcast. "But let's at least get through the next couple of years and do good work for the American people before we talk about politics."
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A recent Politico poll found Vance to be the leading choice among Trump 2024 voters for the next GOP nominee, with 35% picking him. Rubio, by contrast, was named by just 2%. The poll also highlighted a significant portion of the Republican base that remains undecided or still prefers Trump himself, even though the current president is constitutionally barred from a third term.
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