Trump told donors 'we need to elect JD,' source confirms, as he weighs Vance or Rubio in 2028
President Donald Trump has publicly been coy about whether he might back Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio to succeed him in the White House, but...
By Fox News · Fox News
President Donald Trump has publicly been coy about whether he might back Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio to succeed him in the White House, but private comments to donors suggest he might be leaning toward the man he already picked as his running mate in 2024. "At the end of the day, we need to elect JD," Trump told donors privately during an Oval Office meeting roughly two weeks ago, sources told The Washington Post . A source familiar confirmed to Fox News Digital the Post's reporting on Trump's remark. While Post sources say the remark is not evidence Trump has made a choice between his VP or Rubio, a man he has handed many hats in his administration, it is a rare and previously unreported lean of his long-term thinking. Trump made just one reference to Vance in his donor speech in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, hailing "the war on fraud led by our great Vice President JD Vance: He's doing a great job." VANCE, CRUZ, HEAD TO IOWA ON 2026 MISSIONS AS 2028 GOP RACE TO SUCCEED TRUMP HEATS UP Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Vance's office and the Republican National Committee for comment Thursday morning. Despite Vance having won the 2024 running mate sweepstakes, Trump has also lavishly praised Rubio for his work in peacemaking efforts in Venezuela, Cuba and the Middle East, while simultaneously serving as national security advisor among his many leadership roles in the administration. The president earlier this year declared that Rubio would go down as "the greatest secretary of state in history." Trump has also promoted a Vance-Rubio ticket as "unstoppable" — stopping short of explicitly saying who should be at the top of the ticket. Trump did say last year that Vance is "most likely" his heir, because "in all fairness, he's the vice president." NEW POLL COMPLICATES VANCE’S STATUS AS TRUMP’S LIKELY 2028 HEIR APPARENT Trump joked at the White House Correspondents Dinner last month – rescheduled after dodging another assassi…