Vance Spotted at Secret Donors Meeting as 2028 Rival Surges
Marco Rubio is quickly growing in popularity. Vance is responding.
Evan Vucci/REUTERS
JD Vance was reportedly spotted this week schmoozing potential 2028 donors at a secretive meeting in Nashville.
The vice president is tipped alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take control of the Republican Party in a post-Donald Trump world. However, recent polling suggested that Vance may be looking over his shoulder at Rubio.
The native Floridian, 54, made huge gains on Vance, 41, in a survey of attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend. A majority of 53 percent of respondents preferred Vance as their Republican presidential nominee in 2028, down from 61 last year. Rubio was in second place with 35 percent of the vote, a huge leap from just 3 percent in the 2025 poll.
Vance and Rubio are considered the main contenders to lead the Republican ticket in 2028.
Chip Somodevilla/AFP via Getty Images
It was against this backdrop that Vance attended a meeting at the Four Seasons hotel in Nashville on Monday evening. The vice president, who has been quieter than usual since President Trump kicked off the Iran war last month, headlined a closed-door gathering for the spring summit of the Rockbridge Network, a secretive, right-wing donor organization co-founded in 2019 by Vance and conservative publisher Chris Buskirk, according to CBS News.
The Washington Post has previously reported how the Rockbridge Network aims to “equip MAGA to outlive Trump,” tapping Vance as his eventual successor.
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A source at the event told CBS News that about 250 members attended, with tickets costing at least $100,000 a head. And while the Republican Party quietly considers the next presidential election, Vance reportedly kept his feet on the ground.
Rubio's popularity has surged, but the president has refused to back either man publicly.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
The insider said his speech focused on his role leading Trump’s anti-fraud task force, and the upcoming 2026 midterm elections in November. The source added that he also remarked on the Republican effort to maintain control of Congress.
One conservative venture capitalist told CBS News that Rockbridge members are “the people that will be rallying around JD, and they want to back JD,” but another insider said Vance did not discuss a 2028 run.
“It obviously wouldn’t be too smart to do that,” they added.
Billionaire heiress and Trump megadonor Rebekah Mercer and Donald Trump Jr.’s business partner Omeed Malik were said to be present. Don Jr. and Malik run “anti-woke” investment firm 1789 Capital, of which Mercer is a co-founder.
“There is a Venn diagram where Rockbridge and 1789 meet, and they want JD to be the heir apparent,” a conservative investor told CBS News.
After Vance arrived, some MAGA stardust was sprinkled. Trump’s favorite country star, Kid Rock, was spotted at the hotel, where he is said to have performed.
Before the Rockbridge event, Vance attended a Republican fundraising event in Nashville.
Representatives for Vance have been contacted for comment.
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