President Donald Trump has reportedly settled on Vice President JD Vance as his preferred successor for the 2028 Republican presidential race, ending months of publicly weighing Vance against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to five people familiar with Trump’s private commentary.
“It’s become, ‘JD’s our guy, we gotta help JD,'” a senior administration official told MS NOW on July 24, 2026. Another person said Trump has taken to remarking that Vance has been “looking good” lately.
Trump’s shift appears to have crystallized during Vance’s recent press tour for his new memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” which chronicles his 2019 conversion to Catholicism. The tour took Vance to ABC’s “The View,” where he was warmly received, HBO’s “Real Time” with Bill Maher—who later said he would be open to voting for Vance in 2028—Fox News, and Megyn Kelly’s podcast. In these appearances, Vance held his own in sometimes skeptical terrain while promoting the administration’s message, according to people familiar with Trump’s assessment.
Vance’s performance across mainstream and conservative media marked a departure from his earlier media strategy. On “The View,” he attempted to soften his previous controversial statements, including his 2021 comment about “childless cat ladies.” “I’m a bad Catholic. That’s why we need grace, as Christians, and we recognize there are things we have to work on,” he told the hosts, framing the remark as bone-headed and pledging to do better in closing people down rather than opening dialogue.
Trump has also been privately complimentary about Vance’s physical appearance in recent weeks, with two people familiar with the comments noting Trump’s remarks about the vice president’s weight loss. At a Michigan event last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. disclosed that Vance was among administration officials following a sauerkraut-heavy diet devised by physician Dr. Sean O’Mara.
For months, Trump had treated the succession question as an open contest, informally polling aides and donors about both Vance and Rubio. Whether Trump was ever genuinely undecided remains contested—camps for both men have insisted any rivalry was overblown and that Trump enjoys keeping potential successors competing for his favor. Vance himself joked during a May press conference that it would be unseemly for the president to run “a televised competition for who would succeed him as his apprentice.”
Publicly, Vance and Rubio have maintained a friendly relationship. Vance has called Rubio “probably my best friend in the administration,” and Rubio has said he would defer to the vice president if Vance runs in 2028. Three people familiar with their relationship told MS NOW the friendship is genuine.
That dynamic has not stopped some hawkish Republicans from rallying around Rubio as a counterweight to Vance’s noninterventionist instincts, a tension sharpened by recent geopolitical events. Vance had negotiated the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding alongside Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, though Trump expressed disappointment over its collapse this month.
Trump’s preference, while significant, may not be determinative. White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said Vance is Trump’s “right-hand man” and “an invaluable member” of his national security team, citing his leadership on Iran negotiations, the White House’s antifraud task force, and the SAVE America Act. But whether the Republican Party and the hawks carrying Rubio’s banner will follow Trump’s lead remains an open question.
Vance has said he expects to make a decision on his political future following the 2026 midterm elections, and has repeatedly insisted he is focused on his role as vice president. He is widely considered a top contender for the GOP nomination in 2028.
Sources
- MS NOW — Trump’s reported shift toward Vance, the inflection point of Vance’s book tour, Trump’s private compliments about Vance’s appearance, and details on Vance’s media appearances.
- NJ.com — Confirmation of Trump’s apparent selection of Vance, Vance’s book tour reception, and Rubio’s deference to Vance.
- Vanity Fair — Details on Vance’s press tour performances, his softer messaging on “The View,” and his attempts at rebranding for a potential 2028 run.
