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Posted on 08/06/2026 11:16:42 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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 said during an Oval Office meeting with donors roughly two weeks ago, a source with knowledge of the comments, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The news was first reported by The Washington Post.
While Vance remains the clear hypothetical frontrunner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has narrowed the gap in national polls and surveys conducted in key early voting presidential primary states, as well as in Republican straw polls, ahead of a race that is not expected to begin in earnest until after this autumn's midterm elections.
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."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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Another example of Nancy Pelosi’s wrap up smear? It seems that the Washington Post is the favorite media outlet to make up something or maybe reveal something that shouldn’t be revealed or maybe leak something Trump wants leaked. WaPo definitely cannot be trusted.
I wasn’t sure Vance was running until he denied it.
I think that Rubio has an easier time getting elected.
Never believe anything in politics until it is officially denied.
I don’t trust JD Vance at all. He’s far more of a populist than he is a conservative. I’d much rather have Rubio, DeSantis, Sanders, or any number of actual conservatives. I’d take Glenn Youngkin over Vance in a heartbeat.
Agreed!
I like both but we are going to need the strongest candidate we can find.
When the left continues to loose both senate and house in ‘26, they are going to a new level of crazy.
Trump won twice -- maybe even three times -- on the strength of his support among independents and working-class Democrats, especially in key Rust Belt states that hadn't voted for a Republican in years.
Rubio is just another establishment GOP candidate who is never going to get that kind of support from these voters.
I don't see any of these candidates standing a chance of re-assembling the Trump/MAGA coalition of voters.
I much prefer Rubio to Vance. He’s far more seasoned, particularly in foreign affairs (and that was true even before he became the SoS). Vance is also too much under the influence of Tucker Carlson, which puts him a bit much on the fringe for me. That Vance is a patriot and would be a good President is beyond question - but Rubio would be better, IMHO.
I think that Rubio has an easier time getting elected.
Rubio already ran for president, and lost. He lost in the Florida primary, his home state.
Vance ran for VP and won.
Bush 43 won with a very different coalition in 2000 and 2004.
It'll be difficult to recreate the MAGA coalition in 2028 without Trump's charisma.
I think Rubio has an easier chance of assembling a new coalition in 2028 which will put him in the White House.
I suspect they'd likely lose the Carlson/MTG part of the MAGA movement. But they would likely more than make up for it by attracting more moderate/swing voters terrified of the DSA wing taking over the Democratic party.
I voted for Trump all three times, but if Vance is the nominee, I might leave that line blank on my ballot. Hopefully, it won't come to that.
More populist the conservative is exactly what Trump is!
Let’s maintain the political expediency that has crippled progress for the last 40 years; the left in fear of revealing their fascist/communist ideals and the right in needing to actually fight for what they preach.
I believe Trump won due to white non-college degreed people - ‘educated’ women greatly oppose Trump
- Hispanic men ‘hugely’ for Trump
- lower household incomes more for Trump
all relative to Republican candidates the last 40 years
My concern is a JD Vance will collapse to a populist view of economics and diplomacy in governing. Expedient to the end. Not good.
Rubio - who I think has done a good job as SOS, is not electable in several midwestern swing states. They’re very much against foreign meddling and Rubio has always been hawkish.
As Veep, that's clearly due to Trump's coattails. Running for President on his own is a very different dynamic.
Good. For the GOP, conservatism is past, populism is the future.
Just as for Democrats, the DSA is the future.
Reagan and Clinton were 20th century presidents. Their politics won't win in the 21st.
And yet, they differ in some important respects, such as on confronting Iran.
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