US President Donald Trump appears to have chosen his successor at the helm of the White House. The Washington Post reports that the US president recently said in a private meeting with donors that he wants to see his vice president, JD Vance, win the 2028 presidential election.
“Ultimately, we have to elect JD,” Trump said during a meeting with donors in the Oval Office about two weeks ago, according to two people familiar with the comments and who spoke anonymously.
Even as Trump endorsed his vice president in front of donors in the Oval Office, he continued to bombard those around him with questions about Vance’s candidacy against Rubio’s. A White House official said the president asked staff about the two men during a flight on Marine One in late July.
As the publication reports, this is a sign that the president is open to publicly supporting Vance’s candidacy, despite warnings from some of his advisers that Trump has not yet made a final decision on his successor.
The private remark, the Washington Post continues, runs counter to Trump’s rhetoric over the past year, in which he has publicly encouraged competition for his favor between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump has openly expressed the view that the two would make a good combination and has repeatedly refused to specify who he would prefer to see at the helm.
Of course, this happens when he does not imply in any way that he will seek a third term, despite the fact that this is not permitted by the Constitution.
An adviser to the president with direct knowledge of Trump’s comments to donors said Trump has decided that Vance will be his successor in the Republican Party, but that it is “too early” to determine when Vance will announce his candidacy or when Trump will publicly endorse him.
Six other Trump advisers and allies, however, cautioned that they are not convinced that the president has given the endorsement (even unofficially) and recalled that the president tends to tell too many people before reaching a conclusion. They also recall that Trump tends to “play” with candidates, verbally endorsing one or the other.
In addition, the president does not want to show that he is a “lame duck,” meaning under a deadline so early before 2028.
However, much will be decided by the midterm elections in November. If Republicans do poorly, there could be candidates who challenge his election, while Vance and Rubio will be weakened as individuals and as a duo.