When Donald Trump won his second, non-consecutive term as president last year, it set up open primary fights in both parties for the 2028 cycle. Or so we thought.
The Democrats' presidential primary already looks messy, with Kamala Harris attempting a return, Gavin Newsom still preparing, and a cast of thousands on the periphery, including Minnemalia's governor, JazzHands McSnitchline. The GOP's field looked more narrowly cast, with perhaps just three main characters all competing to lead a fusion of MAGA populists and more traditional conservatives – VP J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Florida governor Ron DeSantis making up the top tier of potential contenders for the crown.
Today, however, one of the top Republican contenders cleared the field for the other:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ruled out running for president in 2028 if Vice President JD Vance seeks the GOP nomination.
“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,” Rubio told author Chris Whipple in an interview published Tuesday by Vanity Fair.
If that is what Rubio said, and if he sticks to it – a big if – then that would be pretty much game, set, and match for the 2028 GOP primaries. One caveat applies to that, which is that the second Trump term would have to deliver on its agenda in a way that positions the GOP for overall success in 2028. Voters will need to desire continuity rather than change. Assuming that's the case, then a Vance-Rubio alliance would not only clear the field, it would likely end up being the ticket, with Republicans left holding the advantage of going on offense against Democrats while they fight amongst themselves for the nomination.
Is that what Rubio said? Skeptics might note that practically everyone mentioned in these Vanity Fair articles has now complained that Whipple either took comments out of context or invented them altogether. Susie Wiles called it a "hit piece," and the White House has her back:
Susie Wiles and Karoline Leavitt come out swinging against Vanity Fair, with Wiles calling the story a "disingenuously framed hit piece" and Leavitt saying in a statement that "Wiles has helped President Trump achieve the most successful first 10 months in office of any President… https://t.co/Nlw8HGldv2
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) December 16, 2025
Susie Wiles is by far the most effective and trustworthy Chief of Staff that my father has ever had.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 16, 2025
When Susie took over my father's political operation after J6, people forget how many "Republicans" were treating him like a pariah.
Countless operatives, consultants and… https://t.co/hCGRZT3qJe
Don Jr goes on at length about Wiles' successes and talents, which is too much to excerpt here but should be read. All of his argument matches up with the surprisingly efficient performance in this second term thus far on policy, an almost complete 180 from the chaos of the first months of Trump's previous term. Trump himself – with some exceptions – has exhibited much more discipline on message and tactics this time around, and that's generally credited to Wiles.
However. The decision to do exclusive interviews with Vanity Fair in the first place has drawn some well-deserved heat:
They can come out swinging, but it Wiles isn’t going to deny the quotes, and she specifically didn’t, that’s an issue.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 16, 2025
Also an issue is the decision to give 11 interviews to Vanity freaking Fair. https://t.co/Xgu4TqXwH0
I don't know why Republicans continue to give privileged access to mainstream media or center-left publications determined to destroy them. Journalists are not your friends, especially from Democrat agenda-driven outlets like the @nytimes and @VanityFair. https://t.co/whHNqf7zfU
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) December 16, 2025
Vanity Fair sure thanked White House chief of staff Suzie Wiles for all of those newsmaking quotes with a flattering photo, huh?https://t.co/tnJH2eHNsC pic.twitter.com/B0uAXby35U
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) December 16, 2025
Good Lord. I do hobby photography and have dabbled a little on headshots, and even I could do better than that – unless the point was to deliberately make Wiles look like a psycho in a police mug shot.
With all that said, though, let's return to Rubio and the veracity of the quote. It's almost certainly accurate, and it's not even very surprising. When Trump isn't trolling the media over a run for a third term, he's been fairly clear that he wants either Vance or Rubio to succeed him, and preferably both. Two weeks ago, he remarked about it at a public Cabinet meeting:
Trump remarked on the next presidential race during a marathon Cabinet meeting as he argued Republicans will be in better position than Democrats in 2028 because of the latter's "really bad policy."
"It’s not going to be me," Trump said. "It’s going to be somebody that’s probably sitting at this table. It could be a couple of people sitting at this table – could be a couple of people running together sitting at this table."
Others seated at the Cabinet table included Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio ‒ both considered strong candidates to run to succeed Trump as the GOP nominee.
That's not exactly subtle. Rubio's decision has been rumored for several weeks before now as well:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is privately telling confidants that JD Vance is the frontrunner for the 2028 Republican nomination and that he’d support the vice president if he chose to run, according to two people close to the administration.
Rubio’s private comments are a vivid example of how some Republicans are already gaming out a post-Trump succession battle, less than one year into the president’s term.
“Marco has been very clear that JD is going to be the Republican nominee if he wants to be,” said a person close to the secretary, noting that Rubio has expressed that sentiment privately and publicly.
“He will do anything he can just to support the vice president in that effort,” said the person close to Rubio, who was granted anonymity to share the secretary of state’s private conversations.
Rubio could change his mind at some point, of course, but that seems unlikely. Trump is almost certain to favor Vance in a head-on fight, perhaps reluctantly, perhaps not so much. Trump will want to dictate the succession, and he has the popularity and momentum to do it. If Rubio teams up with Vance for the ticket, Trump's blessing will be assured, so much so that the blessing will help clear the field and allow the GOP to focus on a general election rather than a bitter primary fight for the direction of MAGA. Furthermore, Vance and Rubio make sense as a fusion ticket where MAGA and Tea Party sensibilities can bind together more powerfully.
Assuming this is real and it sticks, it would be the best news for the Republican Party since the presidential election that enabled it.
Editor's note: If we thought our job in pushing back against the Academia/media/Democrat censorship complex was over with the election, think again. This is going to be a long fight.
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