Rubio Praises Vance as Strong 2028 Candidate but Keeps Door Open for Himself

Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Vice President JD Vance during an interview aired on July 26, calling him a “great nominee” for the 2028 presidential race.

“I think JD Vance would be a great nominee,” Rubio told Fox News’s Lara Trump. “I think he’s doing a great job as vice president. He’s a close friend, and I hope he intends to do it. I know it’s kind of early.”

Meanwhile, Rubio continues to be viewed by many as a potential contender himself, which he didn’t rule out.

“I feel honestly—you never know what the future holds. You never rule things out or anything, because you just don’t know,” he said. “Things change very quickly.”

Both Rubio and Vance are well-positioned as heirs to the Make America Great Again movement, as pointed out by President Donald Trump. In a May interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, the president named both Rubio and Vance as potential successors.

“You look at Marco, you look at JD Vance, who’s fantastic,” Trump said when asked about how his MAGA movement will continue once he leaves office. “You look at—I could name 10, 15, 20 people right now just sitting here.”

It was the first time Trump had explicitly named Rubio as a potential successor, creating speculation about a potential rivalry between Vance and Rubio.

On May 1, Trump appointed Rubio as acting national security adviser, replacing Mike Waltz, while retaining his position as Secretary of State. Rubio became the first person to take on both roles since Henry Kissinger in the 1970s.

Despite mentioning both as contenders during the NBC interview, Trump suggested that Vance may have an edge in 2028 because of his current role.

“Marco is great. There [are] a lot of them that are great,” Trump said. “I also see tremendous unity. But certainly, you would say that somebody’s the VP, if that person is outstanding, I guess that person would have an advantage.”

Vance is widely seen as the GOP frontrunner for the 2028 race. A June Emerson College poll showed Vance leading the hypothetical Republican presidential primary field with 46 percent support, well ahead of Rubio at 12 percent and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 9 percent.

Rubio and Trump were once fierce rivals during the 2016 Republican primary. Reflecting on that period of time, Rubio likened election debates to martial arts.

“I’m a big fan of martial—particularly, like, MMA, but boxing and stuff like that,” Rubio told Lara Trump. “When two guys get in the ring, they can like each other. And you see after every fight, they shake hands, they appreciate the combat. You respect someone who’s willing to step into that octagon.”

Rubio said he’d never met Trump before he ran for president in 2016, but noted that once the race ended, he quickly transitioned to being a team player.

“I was in the Senate during the four years of his first term and it was the best four years I had in the Senate. We got a lot done together,” he said.

“And then I was very happy to be helpful on the campaign. He picked one of my closest friends in politics, JD Vance, to be vice president. It was a great team. And then we were on the same team from that point forward and have been ever since.”

Rubio also praised Trump’s leadership style and instincts.

“He’s a lot of fun to be around as a person. I mean, and he has extraordinary—in my view, uncanny—instincts,” Rubio said. “I’ve seen that play out time and time again, and I think that’s a very underappreciated part of his leadership skill set. He has incredible instincts for human behavior, human nature, and it translates to politics and global events.”