Marco Rubio has reportedly been spilling the beans in private on Vice President JD Vance’s White House ambitions.
Rubio, the secretary of state and Vance’s so-called bestie, “has been very clear that JD is going to be the Republican nominee if he wants to be,” according to Politico.
Rubio, 54, has reportedly told confidants that Vance, 41, is poised to be the Republican frontrunner in 2028—and he has offered full-throated support.
A person close to the secretary noted that Rubio “will do anything he can just to support the vice president in that effort.”
Trump flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in June. Carlos Barria/Reuters
Yet, despite the buzz, Vance remains publicly disciplined. He brushed aside talk of launching a 2028 campaign as “premature,” insisting his current focus is on doing his job as vice president.
“I’m going to work as hard as I can to make the president successful over the next 3 years and 3 months,” he told Miranda Devine on Pod Force One last month. In the same interview, he described Rubio as his “best friend in the administration.”
Devine noted in the interview that people have pitted them against one another to become Trump’s successor. She asked if this had created tension. “Uh, first of all, no. There’s not going to be any tension. Marco is my best friend in the administration, and he and I work a lot together,” Vance explained.
He then claimed he never “wakes up” and thinks about becoming the president. Trump has anointed the duo as his heir apparents. “I’m not sure anyone would run against those two” in 2028, Trump said two weeks ago.
Voters are clearly paying attention to Vance’s presidential chops, too. Nearly half of registered Republicans surveyed by a pollster in May said they would support Vance in a primary to succeed Donald Trump in 2028. An upcoming Politico poll, teased in the publication’s Playbook newsletter, found that Vance is the top choice to be the nominee among 2024 Trump voters.
Vance has emerged as a frontrunner. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
However, things aren’t so straightforward. Vance garners 35 percent of responses, according to the poll. Trump got 28 percent, despite that being an unconstitutional third term.
“Don’t know” answers landed in third place with 14 percent, ahead of Ron DeSantis at 6 percent, Nikki Haley and Marco Rubio at 2 percent apiece, and Ted Cruz barely scraping by with 1 percent. Another 3 percent tossed out “nobody,” vague replies, or names too muddled to count. Everyone else—Mike Pence, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy—didn’t even hit 1 percent.
The survey was conducted using a free-response format, allowing respondents to write in their preferred candidate.
Representatives for Vance and the State Department have been contacted for comment.