US President Donald Trump recently told donors in private that he wanted Vice President JD Vance to win the 2028 presidential election, indicating that he may be open to publicly endorsing him even as some advisers caution that Trump has yet to make a final decision on a successor.
"At the end of the day, we need to elect JD," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with donors about two weeks ago, according to two people familiar with the remarks who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
The private remark contrasts with Trump's rhetoric over the past year, during which he has publicly encouraged a competition for his favor between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He has openly mused that the two would make a strong joint ticket and has repeatedly declined to say whom he would prefer to see at the top of it.
Even as Trump promoted his vice president to donors in the Oval Office, he continued sounding out people around him about Vance versus Rubio. A White House official said the president asked staff members about both men aboard Marine One late last month.
