President Trump dominates the political landscape, holding off lame-duck status for now.
But some signs are emerging that prominent members of his party are readying 2028 presidential bids. Those moves are only likely to accelerate after November’s midterms.
A post-Trump landscape will be tricky to navigate. The president has transformed his party during his decade in political life, shifting its policy positions on topics from immigration to trade, and transforming the tenor in which it conducts debate.
One big question for Republican primary voters in 2028 is whether they would prefer a nominee who tries to replicate Trump’s approach or one who seeks to write a new page.
There are plenty of options — assuming, of course, that Trump does not find a pretext to seek a third term. This is prohibited by any normal reading of the Constitution. Even Trump seems to — mostly — acknowledge it’s not possible.
Here are The Hill’s rankings:
Vice President Vance speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, July 23, 2026, in Washington. (Alex Brandon, Associated Press)
1. Vice President Vance
Vice President Vance is the obvious heir apparent — as any vice president so much younger than the commander in chief would be.
Vance, 42, has always had a lot of backing within Trump’s inner circle, which helped him to be chosen as the president’s 2024 running mate in the first place.
Vance is also seen by the Make America Great Again (MAGA) grassroots as one of their own.
This, admittedly, rather whitewashes Vance’s history, which includes once wondering to a friend if Trump could be “America’s Hitler.”
He has long disavowed his earlier criticism, however, and has been a loyal deputy to Trump. He is a fervent believer in the president’s right-wing populist message.
Vance is also known to have been more skeptical than other senior figures in the administration about the decision to go to war in Iran. His perceived reluctance could be a political asset, given the unpopularity of the war with the public at large.
All of that being said, almost nobody believes Vance is a shoo-in for the nomination. It’s not clear Trump would endorse him. More broadly there are questions about Vance’s political skill while other critics see him as lacking in charisma.
His showing in his only run for elected office was solid but unspectacular: He won a U.S. Senate seat representing his native Ohio by 7 points in 2022.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a roundtable discussion on American mining at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 7, 2026. (Natasha Kaiser)
2. Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vance are, by almost universal agreement, the two front-runners for the 2028 nomination.
In an Emerson College poll for The Hill last month, the secretary of State ran mostly better than Vance in hypothetical match-ups against several potential Democratic nominees.
Rubio has been in the national spotlight since 2010 when he won a U.S. Senate seat representing Florida.
His experience has made him a more fluent political performer than Vance. Earlier this year, when each man took a turn at the lectern of the White House briefing room during then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s maternity leave, Rubio appeared to earn more praise.
The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio is known for his longstanding desire to remove the regime that has been in place on the island since the late Fidel Castro led his revolutionary forces to victory in 1959.
Rubio was enthused about the U.S. operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro at the start of this year, and he has similarly hawkish views on Iran.
As such, he could position himself as something of a bridge between Trump’s “America First” supporters and the GOP’s more traditional wing on foreign affairs.
There are, however, questions of authenticity that have long floated around Rubio.
He was also a harsh critic of Trump when he ran against him for the 2016 GOP nomination. The campaign may seem like ancient history now, but it would be excavated for attack ads by rival candidates if Rubio went forward with a 2028 bid.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) addresses reporters during a press conference on July 14, 2026, to discuss the Sanctioning Russia Act championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). (Greg Nash)
3. Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is one of the few figures outside Trump’s inner circle who could pose a real threat to Vance and Rubio. He is making little secret of the fact that he will probably try.
In a recent interview with MS NOW, Cruz pushed back against the idea that the GOP was beginning to coalesce around Vance as its likely nominee.
When it came to the question of where the Republican Party was going and what its identity should be, Cruz stated that he would be “part of the discussion.”
Cruz, 55, is vigorously conservative, and his base in Texas gives him strong relationships with many big GOP donors.
Like Rubio, Cruz ran against Trump in 2016 before going on to make his peace with the president.
Even so, he can sometimes at least hint at criticism. In the MS NOW interview, he lauded Trump as a an “extraordinary” and “ferocious” figure but added: “I wish sometimes there was more message discipline and focus.”
Plenty of Republicans feel the same way. A Cruz campaign would be an intriguing test of how many of them the Texas senator could convert into supporters.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is seen during the Boom Belt event hosted by the Texas Stock Exchange in Miami, Fla., on April 7, 2026. (Eva Marie Uzcategui, Bloomberg via Getty Images)
4. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Among serious contenders, few divide opinion as much as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
His advocates point to his electoral successes in Florida, his embrace of the president’s agenda especially in terms of immigration and opposition to supposed “wokeness,” and the clout that comes from being governor of a large, increasingly Republican state.
But DeSantis’s downsides are equally obvious. His 2024 campaign against Trump never fired on all cylinders. It did, however, mark the Florida governor as a figure of suspicion in the minds of many Trump supporters.
While Vance, Rubio and Cruz are all assumed to be likely to run in 2028, that is less true of DeSantis, for whom the 2024 campaign was a bruising experience.
Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president of development and acquisitions for Trump Organization Inc., is seen during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, July 15, 2025. (Victor J. Blue, Bloomberg via Getty Images file)
5. Donald Trump Jr.
Could the ardor that the GOP base feels for the current president be transferred to his eldest son?
It’s possible, but far from guaranteed.
The younger Trump has never run for office. Then again, neither had his father prior to 2016.
The bigger challenges would be twofold.
First, the younger Trump makes news these days primarily because of business interests that have been deeply controversial. The sums of money involved are often vast.
To take just one example, in July The Washington Post reported that “a portfolio of defense technology start-ups” in which Trump Jr. and his brother Eric Trump have invested “have collectively generated at least $3.2 billion in direct government business.”
Second, many doubt whether the force of his last name alone could propel Trump Jr. — a somewhat socially awkward figure not known for achievements outside the family — to the same political heights as his father.
Tucker Carlson speaks at a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Sept. 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (John Locher, Associated Press file)
6. Tucker Carlson
One of the most intriguing — and controversial — prospects within the GOP is the idea of a presidential run by the conservative commentator.
Tucker Carlson, who was once a staunch backer of Trump, has turned against him, primarily over the war in Iran. The former Fox News host has also become a fervent critic of Israel and its influence on American foreign policy.
To his fans, Carlson has remained true to the populist, “America First” ideology that they believe Trump was supposed to represent. To his detractors, he is stoking his own notoriety by attacking the president and giving a platform to fringe extremists.
Carlson has suggested he won’t run for president, but a livestream last month in which he outlined a 10-point manifesto hardly tamped down the speculation.
He has also become strongly critical of the GOP itself, which appears to make a third-party bid more likely than a tilt at the Republican nomination.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting, July 31, 2026, at Camp David, the presidential retreat, near Thurmont, Md. (Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press)
7. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
Late last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphatically denied an NBC News report that he had “told close friends and associates that he is considering a run for president in 2028.”
The secretary of Defense wrote on social media that the story was “100% false.”
Beyond the specifics of that story, a 2028 run doesn’t seem beyond the bounds of possibility for the ambitious former TV host.
But his tenure at the Pentagon has been deeply controversial, even among some Republicans.
The recent departure of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was one more data point fueling skepticism about Hegseth’s overall approach.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) heads into the Senate Chamber for the confirmation vote for Jay Clayton to be director of national intelligence on July 28, 2026. (Greg Nash)
8. Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.)
Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) appeal is somewhat similar to that of Cruz, except the Arkansas senator is a few years younger and unencumbered by the baggage of a previous run for the presidency.
Cotton, 49, is just as firmly conservative and a good communicator who keeps his profile high with regular appearances in friendly media.
Cotton faces the perennial problem for candidates who are seen as outside the top tier, however.
It’s hard to see him outflanking everyone to actually become the nominee, though it’s quite easy to see him as a possible vice presidential pick.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) speaks before Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins signs waivers for states to stop soda from being purchased with SNAP benefits at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., on June 10, 2025. (Greg Nash)
9. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders still has a reservoir of support among Trump fans because of her stint as White House press secretary during his first term.
She won election as governor of her native Arkansas in 2022 and is up for reelection this year. One recent poll had her leading only by a surprisingly narrow 5-point margin, but it would be a huge shock if she were to lose.
Sanders hasn’t said much about a possible 2028 bid, though she does have a book coming out this fall, which will see her step more firmly into the national spotlight.
Right now, she appears to be the only viable female candidate for the GOP nomination in 2028.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during a campaign stop for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Derek Dooley at Farmview Market in Madison, Ga., on May 8, 2026. (Arvin Temkar, Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Associated Press)
10. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
As a two-term governor of a large Southern state, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp looks good on paper. He will soon have time on his hands to focus on a presidential bid as well: Term limits prevent him from seeking reelection this year.
The big problem for Kemp is his complicated and sometimes rancorous relationship with Trump.
For Kemp to become the nominee, the GOP would have to be ready to rebuke Trump and Trumpism. There is vanishingly little evidence that it is.
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