Political Tribune

Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Opinion, Politics

Trump Has Eyebrow-Raising Answer When Asked If He Views J.D.Vance As His Successor

Donald Trump did not commit to endorsing J.D. Vance as his successor.

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During his Super Bowl Sunday interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Donald Trump gave an eyebrow-raising answer when asked about his successor.

Baier asked Trump, “Do you know view Vice President J.D. Vance as your successor, the Republican nominee in 2028?”

“No,” Trump answered before declaring, “but he’s very capable. I mean, I don’t think… I think you have a lot of very capable people. So far, he’s doing a fantastic job. It’s too early, we’re just starting.”

Baier then pointed out that following the midterm elections in 2026, Vance will likely immediately begin running for president, which would likely include attempting to get Trump to endorse him. The president then pivoted to talking about how great everything had gone for him in the first few weeks of his presidency.

Trump is, of course, term-limited after his current term and won’t be able to run again in 2028. So once he picked Vance as his vice president, it was widely assumed across the political spectrum that Trump was anointing Vance as his successor atop the Republican ticket. However, Trump’s answer indicates that perhaps other Trump loyalists who have served in his administration will have their shot to succeed him in 2028.

However, that assumes that Trump won’t try to take some drastic action to get around the 22nd Amendment.

According to a New York Times story on Monday, Trump has long hinted at the possibility of trying to remain president beyond his constitutionally allotted two terms.

“They say I can’t run again; that’s the expression,” Trump said recently, per the Times. “Then somebody said, I don’t think you can. Oh.”
He might not be all that serious about the effort, however.
“In public, he couches the notion of staying in office beyond two terms as a humorous aside,” the Times story said. “In private, Mr. Trump has told advisers that it is just one of his myriad diversions to grab attention and aggravate Democrats, according to people familiar with his comments. And he has made clear that he is happy to be past a grueling campaign in which he faced two assassination attempts and followed an aggressive schedule in the final weeks.”

Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library. 

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Stephen Silver

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Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy.

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