Who will be Donald Trump’s successor as the leader of the Republican Party? Trump has been the Republican nominee in the last three presidential elections, but it’s going to be someone else in 2028.
JD Vance, as the vice president, has been widely seen as Trump’s most likely successor. But according to a series of media reports in recent weeks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio may have overtaken Vance.
According to NBC News, the president has been “informally polling his circle of friends and advisers,” and Rubio’s name has been coming up a lot.
BREAKING: Trump asked 25 Republican donors whether they preferred he back JD Vance or Marco Rubio for the 2028 nomination, whereby ‘attendees overwhelmingly indicated Secretary of State Marco Rubio through their cheering’, according to NBC News report. pic.twitter.com/18XuTXohFX
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) March 9, 2026
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The night the Iran attack was first launched, per NBC, Trump was “schmoozing at Mar-a-Lago with some of his top administration officials and political donors, with a pressing question: Marco or JD?” Trump was gathered with about 25 major donors, and the consensus in the room heavily favored Rubio.
“It was almost unanimous for Marco,” someone who was in the room said, although another attendee called it more “evenly split.”
BREAKING: Marco Rubio’s 2028 Presidential odds hit a new all-time high after Republican donors signal they prefer him over JD Vance. pic.twitter.com/chkdHCSg5C
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) March 10, 2026
Meanwhile, the betting market Polymarket found that Rubio’s betting odds for 2028 have reached an “all-time high,” although Vance’s chances of winning, at 21.1 percent, remain higher than Rubio’s, at 13.9 percent. Vance remains the most likely winner among all 2028 candidates of either party, per the betting market, with Gov. Gavin Newsom at 17 percent, behind Vance but ahead of Rubio.
Rubio, a longtime senator from Florida and now the secretary of state, ran for president against Trump in 2016, and was originally a key figure in the “never Trump” faction, although the “never” part proved rather fleeting. However, Vance was also at one point a Trump detractor. Rubio was also reportedly a finalist for vice president in 2024, when Trump picked Vance.
The ultimate success of the Iran campaign, and other foreign interventions, may affect how Rubio is seen heading into 2028, while it’s unclear if Rubio is as popular in the MAGA base as he is among a small group of Trump donors who frequent Mar-a-Lago. Also, as a sitting secretary of state, Rubio would almost certainly need to resign his post should he wish to mount a presidential campaign.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
