President Donald Trump is reportedly considering both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential successors in 2028 and has been using Vance’s position as chief negotiator to end the Iran war as a test to see how his second-in-command fairs.
As Vance jetted off to Pakistan to participate in an unsuccessful round of peace talks last week, the president reportedly asked friends and advisers what they thought of Vance’s performance, three people familiar with conversations told CNN.
Trump has also reportedly sized up Vance compared to Rubio aloud – trying to determine how the two men would rival one another as a potential 2028 Republican presidential nominee.
Although Vance is representing the United States in peace negotiations, the vice president has been more cautious about the Iran war – striking a more understanding tone toward voters who disapprove of it. Though the vice president defended the administration recently after the Pope criticized the conflict.
Meanwhile, Rubio, a longtime advocate for interventionalism, has appeared more aligned with the president in supporting the war.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement that Vance is an “invaluable member” of the administration who has taken on “some of the biggest challenges.”
“Vice President Vance continues to show why President Trump has tapped him to lead the Iran negotiations along with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner,” Cheung said. “His ability to take on some of the biggest challenges head-on makes him an invaluable member of the Administration full of top performers.”
But the CNN report about Trump questioning whether Vance is a better option than Rubio to succeed him indicates that the vice president has little room for error in striking a peace deal.
“If it doesn’t happen, I’m blaming JD Vance,” Trump joked to a crowd during an Easter lunch earlier this year. “If it does happen, I’m taking full credit.”
It appears the president trusts Rubio, having handed him a series of odd jobs on top of the coveted Secretary of State position, including acting archivist of the National Archives, acting USAID administrator and acting national security adviser.
The president appears to have even adopted some of Rubio’s hawkish ways as well – intervening in Venezuela, Cuba and Iran.
Ironically, the men being considered for 2028 once admonished Trump, before he became the mainstream representative of the Republican Party. Rubio ran against Trump in 2016 and called him a “con artist.” Vance, a self-described “never Trump guy,” once tweeted that Trump was “reprehensible” and an “idiot.”
Yet, since his rise to power, Vance and Rubio have embraced Trump wholly.
While they may both be considered candidates in 2028, Rubio has said publicly that he would not run against Vance..
“I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio told Vanity Fair last year.
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