The New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman revealed who she believes will be the Republican Party nominee in the next presidential election.
While speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival over the weekend, Haberman offered her assessment of the race to become the MAGA successor. She seemed to agree with NBC News chief White House correspondent Garrett Haake on his assessment.
“I think there are four lanes to the Republican Party,” Haake explained. “I think one lane is the Trump successor, the sort of, like, from the inside of the White House, who’s the person who gets blessed... Presumably, that’s JD Vance. Unless JD Vance decides, for whatever reason, [he] doesn’t want it, or is somehow disqualified, then maybe it’s Marco Rubio.”
Haberman agreed with his take, but added that the big “asterisk” is that it is “likely JD Vance’s nomination if he wants it,” but his feelings about Trump’s war with Iran could complicate the matter.
She has previously reported that Vance, at his heart a skeptic of U.S. military intervention in the Middle East, had privately voiced concerns about President Donald Trump’s war in Iran when it began in February.
Meanwhile, Trump has also said, perhaps jokingly, that he’ll just blame the whole Iran war thing on Vance if it gets to that.
“This way, if it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” Trump said in June.
“You better be careful, JD,” Trump added with a smile. “He’s going to turn his plane around and get the hell out of here.”
Trump has avoided giving Vance, or anyone for that matter, his blessing in the 2028 race. He has been stringing along Vance as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio by suggesting he would be happy with either as the Republican presidential nominee in 2028, without officially endorsing either.
The president also frequently asks people around him, including at his Mar-a-Lago club, whom he should endorse.
In May, he even asked guests at a dinner in the White House Rose Garden whether they wanted Vance or Rubio to be the next Republican presidential nominee, gauging their response by way of applause.
Rubio, meanwhile, has insisted he will not run for president if Vance does.
Still, Trump has not indicated that he is ready to let go of his grip on the Republican Party and hand over his MAGA base to someone else.
He frequently wears a hat reading “Trump 2028″ has refused to rule out running for what would be an unconstitutional third presidential term.
“In two and a half years, you may have a different president — may,” he said in July, emphasizing the “may.”
