United States President Donald Trump appears to already have a pair in mind for the 2028 presidential race: JD Vance and Marco Rubio.
Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel said Trump brought up the vice president and secretary of state during a private conversation with him about three weeks ago. Emanuel revealed the exchange while speaking with Rachel Maddow at New York’s 92Y on Tuesday.
According to Emanuel, the 80-year-old Republican president told him that Vance and Rubio would make a “formidable group.” When Maddow asked whether Trump meant the two running together on a presidential ticket, with Vance presumably at the top, Emanuel said yes.
“That’s what he thought,” he added. The 47th POTUS has not publicly announced an endorsement for the 2028 Republican nomination, although he has repeatedly floated both men as possible successors.
The latest conversation, however, adds to signs that Vance could be emerging as Trump’s preferred choice.
The Washington Post reported in August that Trump told donors during an Oval Office meeting, “At the end of the day, we need to elect JD.” People around the president cautioned at the time that it was still too early to consider his choice final.
Rubio, meanwhile, has previously indicated that he would not challenge Vance if the vice president decides to run.
Emanuel also used Trump’s comments to push back against speculation that the president might try to remain in office beyond 2028, arguing that someone planning to stay would be unlikely to discuss a future Vance-Rubio ticket.
2026-09-23 22:07:00
