(SeaPRwire) – After months of speculation about seeking a third term, President Donald Trump has begun discussing the potential makeup of the Republican ticket for the 2028 presidential election.
During a recent event at the White House, Trump addressed the upcoming race and openly questioned who might join him on the Republican ballot.
“Who’s it going to be? Is it gonna be J.D.? Is it gonna be somebody else? I don’t know,” he said on Monday.
He then compared Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asking the audience to voice their preference between the two.
“Who likes J.D. Vance?” he asked, smiling as supporters applauded. “Who likes Marco Rubio?” He added that pairing their names together “sounds like a good ticket.”
“By the way, I do believe that’s a dream team, but these are minor details,” the President remarked, careful not to officially endorse either official.
“That does not mean you have my endorsement under any circumstance,” he emphasized, noting that he believes the pair “sounds like a presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate.”
So far, Trump has declined to formally endorse a successor after his second term ends, though he has previously mentioned both Vance and Rubio as possibilities.
In August, when asked if Vance was the heir apparent to the MAGA movement, Trump replied: “Well, I think most likely. In all fairness, he’s the Vice President.”
Yet again, he stopped short of offering an official endorsement, stating that Rubio was “somebody that maybe would get together with J.D., in some form.”
According to reports, Trump has privately explored the idea of running Vance and Rubio together on the 2028 GOP ticket during private dinners and meetings held at the White House.
Trump himself has repeatedly hinted at the possibility of running for a third term, despite the 22nd Amendment limiting presidents to two terms.
When questioned about a possible third run, Trump told TIME 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 comments gained further attention when the Trump Store began selling “Trump 2028” merchandise.
He later went further, telling a crowd, “We actually already served three,” repeating false claims that the 2020 election—won by President Joe Biden—was stolen.
Today, despite declining approval ratings, Trump continues to exert considerable influence within the Republican Party, demonstrated by his recent endorsements in Indiana state Senate races, where several candidates backed by Trump won.
Both Vance and Rubio have also recently taken on high-profile diplomatic assignments.
Vance traveled to Hungary in April to support Viktor Orbán, a long-time ally of Trump, ahead of the Hungarian election.
Orbán ultimately lost to opposition leader Péter Magyar in a decisive defeat that ended his 16-year rule.
Vance was also sent to Pakistan to lead U.S. delegations in peace talks aimed at ending the Iran war. However, he returned without securing a deal, and no follow-up in-person negotiations have occurred since.
Meanwhile, Rubio has taken on an increasingly prominent role within the administration.
Last week, he filled in for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a briefing and later released what some interpreted as a campaign-style video based on one of his responses.
Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s National Security Adviser, visited the Vatican last week to meet Pope Leo XIII in an effort to mend relations following Trump’s repeated verbal attacks on the Pontiff over his opposition to the Iran war.
The Secretary of State also met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, another longstanding Trump ally whose relationship with the administration has grown strained due to the ongoing conflict in Iran.
Rubio had previously launched a bid for the 2016 presidential nomination before suspending his campaign 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 U.S. 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 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.”
A poll conducted at the end of April found that Vance led the race to become the Republican presidential nominee, receiving 48% of support among Republicans compared to just 16% for Rubio.
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