Donald Trump has privately revealed who he wants to succeed him.
For several months, Trump has been stringing along Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio by suggesting he would be happy with either as the Republican presidential nominee in 2028, without officially endorsing either.
However, a private conversation between the president and donors suggests Trump has already made up his mind, despite the 80-year-old’s public posturing.
“At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with donors around two weeks ago, two sources told The Washington Post.
The leaked conversation is a stark contrast to what Trump has been saying in public. The president has frequently suggested the “perfect” GOP ticket in 2028 would feature either Vance or Rubio at the top, with the other serving as running mate.
It had long been assumed that Vance would be the MAGA heir apparent and would eventually receive Trump’s endorsement to launch his own presidential bid.
But then the president started pitting Vance and Rubio against each other, frequently asking those around him who they believed would make the better 2028 candidate.
According to Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, a book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, one of the people Trump sought advice from was conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch during an October 2025 dinner.
Trump even asked guests attending a dinner in the White House Rose Garden in May whether they wanted Vance or Rubio to be the next Republican presidential nominee, gauging their response by way of applause.
Just last month, Trump asked his staff for their opinions on Vance and Rubio while flying aboard Marine One, a White House source told the Post.
Others close to Trump warned that the erratic president, who has a tendency to change his mind at a moment’s notice, may not have actually settled on Vance and noted that Trump tells different things to different people.
“Anyone assuming it’s a lock is just getting way ahead of themselves, or just doesn’t know the president very well,” a source with knowledge of the Marine One conversation said.
In another section of Regime Change, Haberman and Swan recounted an example in which Trump suggested Rubio was his preferred candidate at the time.
The authors described an incident in which the president was asked whether he was concerned that whoever next entered the White House would strip away the tacky gold trinkets he had installed around the building. Trump reportedly said he was not concerned because “Cubans love gold,” an apparent reference to Rubio and his heritage.
Rubio is so tired of the constant speculation about a rumored 2028 run that he has cut back his media availability to avoid facing more questions, a source told the Post.
Rubio has previously said he won’t run for president if Vance does so.
A Trump adviser suggested it is unclear whether Rubio would actually want the role of Vance’s running mate in 2028.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and JD Vance’s office for comment.
