President Donald Trump refused to name Vice President JD Vance as his preferred successor when pressed in a sit-down interview with NBC News.
Trump, 79, appeared to be taken off guard when NBC’s Tom Llamas asked him Wednesday, “Will you endorse in the 2028 presidential primary?”
The president said he was “inclined” to eventually back a candidate but claimed he has not yet thought about whom he would choose. He later suggested he has not ruled out defying the Constitution to remain in office beyond Jan. 20, 2029.
Llamas reminded Trump that he previously said Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be a “tough ticket to beat.” He then asked, “Who should be at the top of that ticket?”
Trump answered, “Well, I don’t want to get into this. We have three years to go. I don’t want to, you know, I have two people that are doing a great job. I don’t want to have an argument with, or I don’t want to use the word fight. It wouldn’t be a fight. But look, JD is fantastic, and Marco is fantastic.”
The president has just under three years left in his term, but Republicans will soon line up to announce their bids to succeed him. Trump himself announced his third bid for the presidency on Nov. 15, 2022, just a week after the midterms. The 2026 midterms are nine months away.
Trump hailed Llamas’ question about Vance and Rubio as the “most interesting” of the interview, but declined to favor either of his top deputies. Instead, he vaguely described their attributes without saying which is which.
“I would say one is slightly more diplomatic than the other,” Trump said. “I think they’re both of very high intelligence. I mean, they will do shows, they will do Joe Rogan, as opposed to the opponent not doing it because they couldn’t handle it. They will be able to do whatever they have to do.”
He continued, “I think there’s a difference in style. You know, you can see the style yourself, but they’re both very capable. I do think there’s the combination of JD and Marco would be very hard, [hard] to be beaten, I think. But you never know in politics, right? They say in the age of Trump, you never know.”
Vance, 41, has had a meteoric rise ever since he was chosen as Trump’s running mate at the Republican National Convention. The then-freshman Ohio senator was plucked from a crowded field, years after describing himself as a “Never Trump guy” and who viewed the president as “reprehensible” and an “idiot.”
Now, Vance is a loyal servant in the administration, backing even its most unpopular policies—like the ICE crackdown in Minneapolis that has left two Americans dead at the hands of federal agents.
Rubio, 54, has been equally loyal in MAGA 2.0, but less outspoken than Vance. Who the MAGA duo may face in a GOP primary remains a mystery, but reports say Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is considering a run as a more traditional Republican candidate.
The egomaniac Trump, despite being in decling health and plummeting popularity, is still not ruling out betraying the Constitution and somehow staying in office another term.
Trump did not rule out the possibility of ruling like a king when Llamas asked, “On January 21, 2029, do you see any scenario where you are still president?”
“I don’t know, it would be interesting,” Trump responded. “But wouldn’t it be terrible if I agreed with you, if I gave you the answer that you’re looking for? It would make life so much less exciting, right? It would be so much less exciting. But I only do this for one reason—Make America Great Again, and that’s what we’re doing.”
