U.S. President Donald Trump, who rarely refuses to comment on anything he is asked about, recently made an uncharacteristic move by declining to offer a definitive answer about the potential 2028 Presidential candidates.
In an interview with The New York Times, Trump was asked about Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, and who stands a better chance of running for the upcoming election. Both Rubio and Vance have been floated as possible candidates, but Trump played it safe and did not offer a clear answer.
The President pointed out that it was rather too early to make comments on such a matter. When asked about Vance and Marco individually in relation to their roles, Trump praised them both, saying, “We have three years and one month left, but he’s doing a great job” and then adding, “Marco is doing a great job.”
These endorsements and coronations this early will back fire? https://t.co/J4UR1CrHEt
— Josh Caesar 🇺🇸 (@Caesar4Texas) January 12, 2026
He continued, “I don’t want to do that, but they do have different—they have great strengths, but somewhat different, but they’re great. They’re both doing a great job. I couldn’t be happier with either.”
It should be noted here that both Rubio and Vance appear to be extremely supportive of each other. Talking to the New York Times about the presidential candidate, Rubio had said, “If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him.”
Vance, on the other hand, has been praising Rubio as well. Talking to The Hill, Vance said, “Marco is my best friend in the administration. He and I work a lot together and we really do, I think — a lot of the good work that we do as an administration is because we’re all able to work together.”
The Vice President further added, “President Trump has incredible confidence in Marco Rubio, who dutifully supports the president’s vision and works tirelessly to accomplish our foreign policy goals. Marco is reliable, incredibly competent, and a true asset to the Administration,” as Politico reported.
🚨 JUST IN – PRESIDENT TRUMP on 2028 presidential campaign: “It’s not gonna be me. It’s gonna be somebody who’s probably sitting at this table. Could be a couple people sitting at this table…could be a couple people running TOGETHER sitting at this table!”
Vance-Rubio? 👀🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Oyz9fWmGhb
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 2, 2025
Vance had also been asked about his thoughts on running for the President in 2028, and he, like Trump, decided to answer it rather diplomatically instead of providing any direct answers. Talking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Vance said, “Whenever I think about that, I try to put it out of my head and remind myself, ‘the American people elected me to do a job right now, and my job is to do it.’ If you start getting distracted and focused on what comes next, I think it actually makes you worse at the job you have.”
He then added, “We’re gonna do everything that we can to win the midterms, and then after that, I’m gonna sit down with the president of the United States and talk to him about it, but let’s focus on the now.” His interview came after Rubio’s interview with Politico where he said that it was “very clear” that Vance would become the Republican nominee “if he wants to be.”
With Trump praising both Vance and Rubio and emphasizing their importance in his administration, it seems that the common people of America will have to wait longer to get clarity on who the Republican Party will favor after Trump.
