Trump declines to take sides between Vance, Rubio in 2028 successor debate

Speculation puts the vice president and secretary of state as the top rivals to succeed Trump as the 2028 Republican presidential nominee

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attend a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Jan 9, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

President Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to take sides in the debate over whether his vice president, JD Vance, or his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, would most likely be his successor in the 2028 Republican presidential campaign.

Vance, a former Republican senator from Ohio, has said he will talk to Trump about the possibility of running after the November midterm elections.

There is also speculation among Republican insiders that Rubio, a former senator from Florida who ran for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 2016 and lost to Trump, could seek the presidency.

Rubio has not closed the door to running in 2028, but has praised Vance as a strong potential candidate.

Trump said he would "be inclined" to endorse a successor when asked about Vance and Rubio during an interview with NBC News, but added that he did not want to get into the subject now.

“We have three years to go. I don’t want to, you know, I have two people that are doing a great job. I don’t want to have an argument with, or I don’t want to use the word ‘fight’ — it wouldn’t be a fight. But look, JD is fantastic, and Marco is fantastic," Trump said.

Trump has often said the two men should run together on the same ticket. The 2028 election will feature a wide-open race on both the Republican and Democratic sides and crowded fields are expected.

In a possible nod to Rubio, the country's chief diplomat, Trump said of the pair: “I would say one is slightly more diplomatic than the other."

He called them both men of very high intelligence.

"I think there’s a difference in style," Trump said. “You know, you can see the style yourself. But they’re both very capable. I do think this: The combination of JD and Marco would be very hard to be beaten, I think. But you never know in politics, right?”

Trump in the interview also again appeared to toy with the possibility of seeking an unconstitutional third term. He had flirted with the idea last year, later abandoning the concept.

Asked if he saw “any scenario” in which he would still be president when the next president's term begins in January 2029, Trump said: “I don’t know. It would be interesting.”