US President Donald Trump has privately told donors that he wants Vice President JD Vance to win the 2028 presidential election, signaling that he is willing to support his candidacy, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. “At the end of the day, we have to elect JD,”
Trump told donors during a meeting in the Oval Office about two weeks ago, according to people familiar with the conversation. According to the newspaper, this statement differs from the public stance that Trump has maintained over the past year, when he encouraged a kind of competition between JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump has praised both, hinted that they could run together in the next election, and has refused to say who he prefers as his successor. Yet, despite voicing support for Vance in front of donors, Trump continues to ask his advisers to compare Vance and Rubio.
A White House official said that as recently as late last month, the president asked aides for their opinions on the two politicians during a flight on the presidential helicopter Marine One.
An adviser claims that Trump has privately decided that Vance should lead the Republican Party after his departure, but adds that it is still “too early” to predict when Vance will announce his candidacy or when Trump will publicly endorse him.
However, six other Trump allies and advisers said they are not convinced the president has made a final decision, noting that he often says different things to different people and could still change his mind. “Anyone who thinks this matter is already closed is either jumping to conclusions or doesn’t know the president well enough,” one official said.
Vance has yet to make his plans public. Sources who have spoken to him say he has not yet made a final decision and had planned to wait until after the birth of his fourth child, who was born on July 19.
An adviser added that Trump would still like Marco Rubio to be in the same electoral pair as Vance and frequently praises the secretary of state, although it is not clear whether Rubio would accept the role of vice presidential candidate in a Vance-led candidacy. /Telegraph