--- title: Vance or Rubio? Trump Discusses 2028 Presidential Ticket at White House description: Trump's remarks come after months of him suggesting that he might seek a third term. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/05/12/vance-rubio-2028-presidential-ticket-trump-comments/ author: Tiago Ventura article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-05-12T13:24:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-12T18:16:32.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Vance or Rubio? Trump Discusses 2028 Presidential Ticket at White House og:description: Trump's remarks come after months of him suggesting that he might seek a third term. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/05/12/vance-rubio-2028-presidential-ticket-trump-comments/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf7671842035fa62/6a030ae71423c1529fbfad87/Trump_Vance_Rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Trump_Vance_Rubio.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Vance or Rubio? Trump Discusses 2028 Presidential Ticket at White House twitter:description: Trump's remarks come after months of him suggesting that he might seek a third term. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf7671842035fa62/6a030ae71423c1529fbfad87/Trump_Vance_Rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Vance or Rubio? Trump Discusses 2028 Presidential Ticket at White House > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Vance Or Rubio? Trump Discusses 2028 Presidential Ticket At The White House [Watch (HLS stream): Vance Or Rubio? Trump Discusses 2028 Presidential Ticket At The White House](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oYsN1ga8.m3u8) (0:44)  _Published 2026-05-12. Trump's remarks come after months of him suggesting that he might seek a third term._  by [Tiago Ventura](https://time.com/author/tiago-ventura/)  ## Tiago Ventura Updated: May 12, 2026 6:16 PM UTCPublished: May 12, 2026 1:24 PM UTC  by [Tiago Ventura](https://time.com/author/tiago-ventura/)  ## Tiago Ventura Updated: May 12, 2026 6:16 PM UTCPublished: May 12, 2026 1:24 PM UTC After months of floating the idea of seeking a [third term](https://time.com/7281485/is-trump-seeking-a-third-term-rally-comments-election-denial/), President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/article/2026/05/07/trump-xi-china-meeting-what-to-expect/) has remarked upon what the 2028 presidential ticket might look like. Speaking during an event at the White House, Trump discussed the future race and wondered aloud who could be on the Republican ticket. “Who’s it going to be? Is it gonna be J.D. \[Vance\]? Is it gonna be somebody else? I don’t know,” he said Monday. Trump then proceeded to pit [Vice President Vance](https://time.com/article/2026/03/10/how-trump-and-vance-differed-on-iran-war/) and Secretary of State [Marco Rubio](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/marco-rubio/?filters=Leaders) against one another, asking the crowd to show their support for who they liked. “Who likes J.D. Vance?” he queried, smiling as attendees applauded. “Who likes Marco Rubio?” he continued, adding that the names together “sound like a good ticket.” “By the way, I do believe that's a dream team, but these are minor details,” the President said, notably stopping short of endorsing either member of his Administration. “That does not mean you have my endorsement under any circumstance,” he emphasized, adding that he thinks it “sounds like a presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate." The President has thus far avoided officially endorsing anyone to succeed him after he completes his second term, but he has floated both Vance and Rubio’s names before. Last August, when asked if Vance was MAGA’s heir-apparent, Trump [said](https://time.com/7307781/trump-vance-maga-heir-marco-rubio-2028-third-term-successor/): “Well, I think most likely. In all fairness, he’s the Vice President.” But he again stopped short of any official endorsement, adding that Rubio was “somebody that maybe would get together with J.D., in some form.” According to[ reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/us/politics/vance-rubio-trump-succession.html), Trump has previously polled the possibility of Vance and Rubio appearing together on a 2028 Republican ticket during private dinners and meetings with guests at the White House.  Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 19, 2026. Chip Somodevilla––Getty Images Typically, discussions of presidential succession would be “pretty behind the scenes" more than two years out from the election, says Hans Noel, an associate professor of Government at Georgetown University with a focus on U.S. political coalitions. "But President Trump has changed things,” Noel tells TIME. “He is very much about showmanship and, by making it into an applause-meter kind of event, Trump wants to not only make this more entertaining, but put himself in the middle of it.” Trump himself has repeatedly teased the idea of seeking a third term, despite the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution only allowing Presidents to serve two terms in office. When asked about the possibility of a third term, Trump [told](https://time.com/7280114/donald-trump-2025-interview-transcript/) TIME in April last year: “I'd rather not discuss that now, but as you know, there are some loopholes that have been discussed that are well known. But I don't believe in loopholes. I don't believe in using loopholes.” His remarks gained further traction when the Trump Store started selling "Trump 2028" merchandise. He later went a step further, [telling](https://youtu.be/AnXWSjimNNA?t=2194) a crowd that “we actually already served three,” repeating his false claims that the 2020 election—[won by President Joe Biden](https://time.com/5907674/joe-biden-wins-2020-election/)—was stolen. In the present day, despite declining approval ratings, Trump continues to wield significant influence within the Republican Party, underscored by his recent endorsements in the [Indiana state Senate races](https://time.com/article/2026/05/06/indiana-elections-redistricting-trump/), where several Trump-backed candidates won contests. Furthermore, both Vance and Rubio have recently been tested by high-profile diplomatic assignments. Vance traveled to Hungary in April to [support](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1877&v=iU0SEPSwxQA&feature=youtu.be) long-time Trump ally Viktor Orbán ahead of the Hungarian election. Orbán ultimately lost to opposition leader [Péter Magyar](https://time.com/article/2026/04/13/peter-magyar-ended-trump-ally-viktor-orban-rule-hungary/) in a [landslide defeat](https://time.com/article/2026/04/12/viktor-orban-election-loss-trump/) that ended his 16-year rule. Vance was also dispatched to Pakistan to lead the U.S. delegations in peace talks intended to clear a path to end the [Iran war. ](https://time.com/article/2026/05/11/us-iran-israel-war-trump-netanyahu-peace-talks-latest/)But he returned to the U.S. without a deal and a second round of in-person talks have [yet to take place](https://time.com/article/2026/04/28/trump-iran-war-update-peace-proposal-strait-of-hormuz-conflict/). Rubio, meanwhile, has also taken on an increasingly visible role in the Administration. Last week, he stepped in for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a briefing and later released, what some viewed to be, a [campaign-style video](https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2052068482770993406) built around one of his answers. Rubio, who is also Trump’s National Security Adviser, [traveled to the Vatican](https://time.com/article/2026/05/07/rubio-attempts-to-mend-relationship-with-pope-leo-following-feud-with-trump/) last week to meet Pope Leo in an effort to ease tensions after Trump’s [repeated verbal attacks](https://time.com/article/2026/05/05/trump-pope-leo-rubio-vatican-meeting/) on the Pontiff over his opposition to the Iran war. The Secretary of State additionally met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, another longtime Trump ally whose relationship with the Administration has become [strained](https://time.com/article/2026/05/01/trump-threatens-to-withdraw-us-troops-italy-spain-europe-iran-war/) over the conflict in Iran. Noel refers to this moment in time as the "invisible primary"—a period during which "people are jockeying to get support and try to line themselves up” for future roles, he says. Rubio previously launched a [presidential campaign](https://time.com/3820475/transcript-read-full-text-of-sen-marco-rubios-campaign-launch/) for the 2016 race before [suspending](https://time.com/4260025/super-tuesday-election-voting-ohio-donald-trump/) it after losing the Republican primary to Trump. He later returned to the Senate before joining Trump’s second Administration. Vance was serving his first term as a Senator from Ohio when Trump selected him as his running mate. When asked if he would challenge Vance for the top spot on the 2028 GOP presidential ticket, Rubio told[_Vanity Fair_](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/trump-susie-wiles-interview-exclusive-part-2)in December: "If J.D. Vance runs for President, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him." According to a Harvard CAPS/Harris [poll](https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/HHP%5FApr2026%5FKeyResults.pdf) conducted at the end of April, Vance was the favorite to lead the presidential Republican ticket, garnering 48% of support among Republicans compared to only 16% for Rubio. Polls aside, Noel emphasizes that because of the "centrality of Trump” within the GOP, his endorsement has become a “focal point” to determine the direction of the party. “The big question the Republican Party is facing is what does it look like post-Trump,” he says. “Since Trump changed the party so much, it's a question of is the party going to go the way it had been before? Or, is it going to continue in this 'America-first' direction?" Vance represents the “MAGA, America-first direction,” Noel adds, noting that the Vice President could position himself as a “continuation of what Trump is doing.” Rubio, meanwhile, "was an important rising star in the old Republican Party when he ran against Trump initially,” Noel says. “He's in a position to accommodate the America-first style, but \[could\] also try to reach beyond some of its limits." ## Transcript Who's it going to be? Is it going to be JD? Is it going to be somebody else? I don't know who. Does anybody have. Okay. Let's go. You ready? Who likes JD Vance? Who likes Marco Rubio? All right. Sounds like a good ticket, JD. It's a perfect. That was a perfect ticket, by the way. I do believe that's a dream team. But these are minor details. That does not mean you have my endorsement under any circumstance. But you know, it's a perfect it was a big and then a very nice I think it sounds like presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/12/vance-rubio-2028-presidential-ticket-trump-comments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/05/12/vance-rubio-2028-presidential-ticket-trump-comments/"},"headline":"Vance or Rubio? 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