There’s a running joke that every time a job in the Trump administration opens up, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will fill it. In addition to his State Department role, he has served as national security adviser, national archivist, and head of what used to be USAID.
Now comes the question of Rubio’s next job. Is he Vice President JD Vance’s sidekick or his only potential rival to succeed President Donald Trump?
Vance is better positioned than ever to inherit Trump’s political base. He is involved in high-stakes diplomacy, and not just the symbolic variety George H.W. Bush referred to in his quip about representing Ronald Reagan at foreign dignitaries’ funerals — “You die, I fly.” Vance has access to Trump’s fundraising apparatus and has a big lead in the polls.
However, the press hasn’t given up on covering a battle royale come 2028, and Trump has given them some encouragement.
Trump has stopped short of endorsing Vance months into his second nonconsecutive term, years away from the start of the 2028 Republican presidential primaries. He has also kept stoking interest in Rubio, one of the 16 major Republican candidates he defeated to become the nominee for the first of three times back in 2016.
The Wall Street Journal recently noted Trump’s public and private references to Rubio, suggesting the president is keeping his options open. According to this report, Trump asked Rubio and Vance which of them would be on top of the Republican ticket next time around. But a “source close to the White House” told the Daily Mail, “the president loves to tease people.” The Daily Beast preferred to characterize it as Trump pitting the two men against each other in a “battle for the MAGA throne.”
It is also understandable that Trump might wait to hand out his endorsement, given how things ended with former Vice President Mike Pence in his first term. Rubio was on Trump’s VP short list last year, but Vance got the nod.
Nevertheless, Trump came closer than ever before to passing the baton to Vance earlier this month. “Well, I think most likely. In all fairness, he’s the vice president,” he said. Trump hesitated to go that far in the past, although he always complimented Vance’s performance in office and on the campaign trail.
“So it’s too early, obviously, to talk about it. But certainly he’s doing a great job, and he would be probably favored at this point,” Trump added about Vance.
Trump also mentioned Rubio, but seemed to be positioning him for a supporting role behind Vance. “I think Marco is also somebody that maybe would get together with JD in some form,” Trump said. “I also think we have incredible people, some of the people on the stage right here.”
Trump has done more to groom Vance up to this point than Reagan did Bush 41, Bill Clinton did Al Gore, or Joe Biden did Kamala Harris.
Rubio recently downplayed his own presidential ambitions and made supportive comments about Vance. “I think JD Vance would be a great nominee if he decides he wants to do that,” Rubio said on a Fox News show hosted by Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law.
The secretary of state said he “would be satisfied” with success in his current Trump administration roles “as the apex of my career.”
When Katie Miller interviewed Vance for her inaugural podcast, she mentioned Trump’s comment about the vice president being his heir apparent. “I saw that,” Vance replied. “Yeah.”
“[Trump] said Marco would be involved, some way, somehow,” Miller continued. “So we’ll go down some Marco questions.”
“Oh God,” Vance replied.
The following exchange was mainly about Rubio’s fondness for ice cream, which was probably not a veiled attempt to link the secretary of state to Biden, and jokes.
In June, speaking at the New Right-oriented American Compass gala, Vance and Rubio praised each other effusively. Rubio said his admiration for Vance “has grown tremendously.”
“I admired him in the Senate,” he continued. “I admire him a lot more now as vice president because I think vice presidents are just more impressive than senators.”
Vance returned the favor. ”So Marco, I was very fond of him as a Senate colleague, but you learn a lot about somebody when you see them actually operate behind the scenes,” he said. “And Marco is, if anything, more impressive privately than he is publicly, which is very hard to do, but he’s very thoughtful. He actually listens, which is a rare skill in politics.”
The vice president stressed the intellectual heritage he had in common with Rubio. “I think one of the first times I ever met, maybe the first time I ever met Marco, was in a conference room in a Senate office with [heterodox conservative policy wonks] Mike Needham and Oren Cass talking about some of the very things we’re talking about here tonight and some of the very things American Compass is focusing on,” Vance said. “So it’s amazing to see it come full circle to where we are today.”
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This is all to be expected since Vance and Rubio are currently on the same team, led by Trump. If that were ever to change, Vance might be more inclined to discuss the Gang of Eight immigration bill or George W. Bush’s foreign policy rather than ice cream and clever conversation.
But the mutual admiration certainly seems genuine, and for now, Rubio looks comfortable wearing many hats, the latest being Vance’s ally.