Trump reportedly polling inner circle about Vance, Rubio as '28 heir apparent

Vice President JD Vance, President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

According to multiple recent reports, President Trump has been questioning advisers in his inner circle about who might be the better candidate for the Republicans to nominate in 2028: his Vice President JD Vance or his Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump can't stop asking the question, and during a dinner with donors at Mar-a-Lago last week, Trump put the question to those in attendance. As they dined, Trump told the donors to respond with applause for the candidate they preferred in 2028. Rubio drew the louder round of applause, according to the report. NBC News reported that an anonymous source who was in attendance said, "It was almost unanimous for Marco."

The subject of who should be Trump's heir has been on his mind for a while. Axios reported last month that the president has been increasingly polling those close to him on who should be the successor. In Trump's mind, according to the Axios report, a Vance-Rubio ticket in 2028 would be ideal, but a close adviser who spoke anonymously with Axios said Trump would still be happy if the ticket was reversed and Rubio was running for president, with Vance occupying the role of running mate. 

Vance has not declared his candidacy for 2028 and Rubio has said publicly that if Vance runs, he won't challenge the VP and will be among his top supporters. Polls have shown Vance currently enjoys a comfortable lead among Republicans who could run in 2028. An Emerson College poll released at the end of February showed Vance drew 52% support among Republicans. Rubio placed a distant second with 20%.

Dave Rubin polled readers of his Rubin Recap newsletter in late November, and Rubio picked up 64% of the vote to Rubio's 35% in that head-to-head survey. However, Dave has also asked newsletter readers to weigh in on Trump administration power rankings and Rubio has been dominating those surveys of late. In the latest poll, which was included in the Friday, March 6 edition of The Rubin Recap, Rubio ran away with first place. He amassed more than 63% of the vote in a field that included nine other members of the Trump administration. 

Rubio has been dominated Trump Administration Power Ranking polls in recent months.

As The Wall Street Journal pointed out, Rubio's stock may be on the rise. He was roundly praised for the speech he delivered last month at the Munich Security Conference, the same event Vance spoke at a year earlier. But Rubio's speech was met with a standing ovation, while Vance's was seen as having been more combative. 

And then there are the family matters that could be another complicating factor. Second lady Usha Vance is pregnant, expecting the couple's fourth child, a boy, in July of this year. The Vance's have three children ages, 8, 5 and 3. It remains to be seen whether a four child under the age of 10 will have any effect on Vance's future political ambitions. 

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