President Trump delivered a stinging public snub to Vice President JD Vance on Monday, refusing to endorse his second-in-command as his 2028 successor — even as Vance stood just feet away inside the Oval Office.
During a sit-down interview with Fortune, the 79-year-old president was pressed by editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell on whether Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, or his own son Donald Trump Jr. would be best positioned to carry on his “dealmaking legacy.” Shontell noted mid-exchange that Vance had “quietly slipped into the back” of the room — meaning the 41-year-old vice president heard every word.
Trump did not soften the blow.
“Whoever gets this [job] is going to be very important,” Trump said. “And if you get the wrong person: disaster.”
The president declined to clarify which potential heir might constitute that “disaster,” leaving Vance — long viewed as the natural MAGA successor — to absorb the ambiguity in real time. It marked the latest in a string of lukewarm gestures Trump has offered toward a Vance candidacy, despite the vice president’s rise since being selected as running mate at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
A Pattern of Public Humiliation
The Oval Office moment was not an isolated slight. Days earlier, at a Police Week dinner in the White House Rose Garden, Trump turned the question of succession into a live applause contest — with Vance again sitting feet away.
“Who’s it going to be? Is it going to be JD? Is it going to be somebody else? I don’t know,” Trump told the crowd, before asking, “Who likes JD Vance?” He then asked whether guests preferred Rubio, who was not present. The cheer for Vance was noticeably louder.
“Alright, sounds like a good ticket,” Trump conceded. “That was a perfect ticket. By the way, I do believe that’s a dream team, but these are minor details. That does not mean that you have my endorsement under any circumstance.”
The president reportedly asks those close to him whether Vance or Rubio should lead the GOP ticket in 2028, with the other serving as running mate. The dynamic has placed both men in an awkward holding pattern.
Rubio’s Quiet Ascent
Rubio, 54, has emerged as a serious internal rival. The secretary of state has accumulated influence inside the administration, juggling multiple roles and being entrusted with sensitive missions — including a recent trip to the Vatican to ease tensions caused by Trump’s feud with Pope Francis.
The former Florida senator, who challenged Trump for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination, has been equally loyal in MAGA 2.0 but markedly less outspoken than Vance. Rubio has publicly praised Vance as a strong prospective candidate, though he has not ruled out a 2028 campaign of his own.
Vance, by contrast, has aggressively defended the administration’s most controversial moves, including the ICE crackdown in Minneapolis that left two Americans dead. The Ohio Republican’s transformation has been dramatic — years ago he described himself as a “Never Trump guy” and called the president “reprehensible” and an “idiot.”
Vance Forced to Respond
On Tuesday, Vance was grilled by reporters about whether he believes Trump is “toying” with him and Rubio.
“There are a few topics that I want to talk about less than what office I’m going to run for years down the road when I’m having a good time and trying to do good work in the job that the American people already elected me to do,” Vance said. “I love Marco, I think he’s a great secretary of state, he’s become a very, very dear friend, but I think both of us are very much focused on accomplishing the American people’s business right now.”
He added: “If I was the American people, there are a few things that I would hate more than a person who’s barely been in one office for a year and a half angling for a job two and a half years down the road.”
A Third Term — or a Successor?
Complicating matters further, Trump continues to flirt openly with the constitutionally barred idea of remaining in office past January 20, 2029. In a February interview with NBC’s Tom Llamas, the president said he was “inclined” to eventually endorse someone but had not decided. Asked whether he could see any scenario in which he was still president on January 21, 2029, Trump replied, “I don’t know. It would be interesting.”
The 2026 midterms are nine months away. Trump announced his 2024 bid just a week after the 2022 midterms — meaning the formal opening of the 2028 race could arrive sooner than Vance would like. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is also said to be weighing a more traditional Republican run.
For now, Vance remains in the uncomfortable position of being publicly graded — by applause meter, by interviewer, and by the president himself — with no guarantee his boss will ever say the words he most wants to hear.
Sources:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-humiliates-jd-vance-by-snubbing-him-to-his-face/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-jd-vance-rubio-us-election-2028-b2914398.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/cornered-trump-refuses-to-back-jd-vance-as-successor/