Posted on 05/30/2026 9:44:11 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
In recent conversations with aides and allies, President Trump often interjects with a question about his vice president: Does JD Vance have what it takes to go all the way?
He usually answers his own question: He’s not so sure.
It is not that Mr. Trump is abandoning Mr. Vance. He involves him in major decisions, has given him high-profile opportunities to position himself for 2028 and trusts the 41-year-old vice president to wage partisan warfare on his behalf. In a cabinet meeting this week, Mr. Trump compared Mr. Vance to Eliot Ness, the mob-busting federal agent, for working to ferret out fraud in mostly Democratic controlled states.
Mr. Trump has long conducted running focus groups on his closest aides, and appears to enjoy needling them and keeping them off balance as a way of asserting his dominance. Several people in the president’s inner circle have been subject to his quasi-public questioning of their performance and their future.
But when it comes to Mr. Vance, the stakes are higher. As the default front-runner for the Republican nomination and would-be inheritor of the president’s political movement, Mr. Vance’s fortunes ride to a substantial degree on the enthusiasm of the support he gets from Mr. Trump. And Mr. Trump’s regular polling of people on whether they prefer Mr. Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio has become one of the most closely watched early indicators of how power in the Republican Party might pass to the next generation.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“RDS” has the time-tested skill and will to be the president I’d like.
Vance will sell his soul to the highest bidder
Rubio is still a politician but I trust him more. Higher morals
I question JD too...
what’s JD Vance’s relation to Peter Thiel?
Thought for 5s
JD Vance’s relationship with Peter Thiel is that of a longtime protégé/mentee and major political/financial backer.Key Details:Mentor-Protégé: Their connection began in 2011 when Thiel gave a talk at Yale Law School (where Vance was a student). Vance has called it one of the most significant moments of his time at Yale and described Thiel as “possibly the smartest person” he’d ever met. Thiel later became a mentor to Vance.
forbes.com
Professional Ties: In 2015–2017, Vance worked as a partner at Mithril Capital, a venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel. Thiel also provided significant backing for Vance’s own venture capital firm, Narya Capital, after Vance moved back to Ohio.
Major Financial and Political Support: Thiel was instrumental in Vance’s political rise. In 2022, Thiel donated $15 million to a super PAC supporting Vance’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in Ohio — a massive sum that helped him win a competitive Republican primary.
cbsnews.com
Ongoing Influence: Vance is widely viewed in media and political circles as one of Thiel’s most prominent political protégés. Thiel (PayPal co-founder, Palantir co-founder, and influential Silicon Valley investor) has helped shape Vance’s trajectory from venture capitalist to Senator to Vice President.
In short: Peter Thiel is JD Vance’s former boss, mentor, and one of his biggest financial and ideological backers. Their relationship has been central to Vance’s career in both tech finance and politics.
Vance is a political animal. He will crush Rubio.
2. Rubio IS a lawyer.
I disagree with you. His primary challenge to Trump was one of the most politically tone-deaf things anyone could have done in his position.
I said this last year, and still believe it.
PS: this is NOT a condemnation of Trump. It just IS.
There is a basic reality in terms of the Presidential candidacy.
Over the years, The Presidency went from a job where the nation wanted a guy who had ideas and leadership qualities, to sort of like the slot for lead singer in Van Halen.
You can have a killer frontman like David Lee Roth, who excites and slays live and propels the band creatively, but who is a trainwreck in terms of everything else.
You can get Sammy Hagar, who is ultra competent but not terribly motivating and not your primary pick for frontman.
Then there is Gary Cherone, who is great in Extreme but lost in VH and, today, nobody can name ONE thing Cherone did in VH.
Trump is Diamond Dave.
DeSantis is Sammy; he sort of flopped once he moved out of 2,000-seat venues to Madison Square Garden.
Rubio and Vance are Cherone - and even that’s a stretch since Cherone is great in Extreme. But in Van Halen, he’s basically forgotten as are the songs from that VH III album.
In 2024, America wasn’t - for the most part - voting for competency. We are voting for the Frontman of America. And maybe that’s ok - maybe we NEEDED a Frontman more than a vocalist.
In this contest, the nation and populism want Diamond Dave. And Dave is unifying people like nobody-look at the rappers with Trump in The Bronx. It’s stunning.
But we need to be honest with ourselves. Trump 1.O was a train wreck in terms of personnel choices, and he can get carried away with social media. That was the cost of solid SCOTUS picks and abortion overturned, a cranking economy, and no wars.
Trump 2.0 won the Diamond Dave vote, which was drawn to a guy who took a bullet and unifies people.
In 2028, will we want Diamond Dave or Hagar or Cherone? I don’t know…no Candidate can replace Trump as a Frontman. It depends what the primary voters want.
Ultimately, regardless of who gets into the WH, never forget….the American People are Eddie, Michael, and Alex-a monster band that is invariant to the guy in the singer slot. WE run the nation.
I think you have it backwards. Unlike Rubio, Vance actually has built a resume outside government before he ever got into politics. As a career politician, Rubio has been selling himself to the highest bidder for his entire adult life.
Whoever it is, I hope he has fewer character flaws than Trump.
Not sure why anyone wants to work for Trump. He constantly questions their ability to do their job publically. He shows no loyalty to the people who work for him. He belittles them.
If he has job performance doubts about a person, then he needs to fire them immediately.
Peter Thiel bugged out to Argentina, suddenly Vance is bearish on running in 2028. Unlikely JD will find another sugar daddy.
I mean who are the rats going to run, Kamala again? 🤣 Newscum? 🤣🤣 AOC? 🤣🤣🤣
Who can beat whatever candidate the repubs nominate?
What concerns me most about Rubio is all the leftist loons who adore him, like the NY times.
A total of 99 senators approved Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State. His nomination was unanimously confirmed with a vote of 99-0 in January 2025.
Congress.gov
do you really believe that gibberish?
See 34
Said no one.
Probably not. Like most VPs, Vance is a quiet, unassuming, unassertive type who fades into the woodwork. Rubio gets more publicity. That’s not good for original MAGA, since Rubio represents the current turn towards interventionism.
Who are you expecting Trump to fire now?
You should be more concerned about Rubio and his Mexican immigration lawyer Cesar Conda who brought Rubio into politics with Paul Ryan. Conda aka Mr. AMNESTY AND OPEN BORDER HACK is still Rubio’s lead advisor.
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