Politics

Trump Denies Backing Vance for 2028 Race

Is JD Vance already Trump's chosen heir for 2028 or is it far too early to crown a frontrunner?

Published AUG 7

#Politics

Trump Denies Backing Vance for 2028 Race

Story

Above: Donald Trump and JD Vance at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on July 28. Image credit: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Anti-Trump narrative

Trump privately told donors, "We need to elect JD," and that slip reveals where his head is really at — Vance is the chosen heir to the GOP throne. Vance has raised millions for the RNC, built a nationwide donor network and still leads every Republican rival by double digits. The 2028 race has a clear frontrunner, and all the public hedging from Trump is just theater.

The Washington Post Newsweek

Pro-Trump narrative

President Trump flatly said it's way too early to be thinking about 2028, and a half-dozen of his own advisers say nobody should assume Vance is a lock. Vance himself hasn't declared, hasn't formed a committee and told CBS he'd talk it over with his wife after the midterms. Reading a private donor comment as a done deal badly misreads how Trump actually operates.

Eric Daugherty on X Daily Mail

Cynical narrative

Trump may want to anoint a political heir for 2028, but history has little respect for handpicked successors. Vice presidents rarely win the presidency directly, and secretaries of state have fared even worse. Meanwhile, Trump's endorsement has never guaranteed lasting favor. His first administration saw a revolving door of loyalists, proving that in Trump's orbit, today's trusted insider can quickly become tomorrow's discarded ally.

Tymofiy Mylovanov on X