Institution GOP Donors’ Prime Decide To Lead 2028 Ticket Is Revealed
President Donald Trump was hours removed from launching a joint U.S.-Israeli strike campaign against Iran when he turned to a very different question at his Florida estate: Who should carry the GOP banner in 2028?
During a late-night gathering at Mar-a-Lago on Feb. 28, Trump mingled with roughly two dozen major Republican donors and allies, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and billionaire Georgia gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson, when he posed a simple question to the room: Marco Rubio or JD Vance?
The informal show of support leaned heavily toward the secretary of state, according to people who attended the private event.
“It was almost unanimous for Marco,” said a person in attendance, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
“Yeah, that’s right,” said the second attendee about the informal Trump poll. “It was clear, at least that night.”
Another person present, however, described the reaction differently, saying the room was more “evenly split” between Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
The moment unfolded as Trump entertained donors and advisers at his Palm Beach resort while the Middle East reeled from the opening wave of strikes against Iran. Though casual, the exchange offered another glimpse into how the president is already thinking about the fight to succeed him as the Republican Party’s standard-bearer.
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Still, allies caution that a donor-room cheer at Mar-a-Lago — Rubio’s home state — is hardly a definitive signal about the GOP’s future.
“The Mar-a-Lago donor crew are not JD people,” a former Trump administration official told NBC News. “He did not get picked [to be vice president] because of the Mar-a-Lago crowd. If you remember, that crowd was lobbying the president to pick Marco.”
“So, I’d say stuff like that is a bit gamed,” the former official added. “If there were a poll taken tomorrow, I’d bet JD is still up by 40 [points], or whatever it is.”
Despite the donor chatter, Vance is still widely seen as the overwhelming early favorite in a potential 2028 Republican primary, largely because of his strong backing among grassroots MAGA voters who make up the party’s most reliable primary electorate.
JD Vance and his wife, Usha
Trump has repeatedly sought input from people in his orbit about how he should approach the looming 2028 battle. The conversations underscore how much influence he intends to wield in choosing the next Republican nominee — a role that could pit members of his own administration against each other.
The president has long enjoyed playing kingmaker in GOP primaries, and the early jockeying between Rubio and Vance shows how fluid the political landscape remains around him.
“The President has assembled an all-star team that has achieved unprecedented success in just over one year,” White House spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “No amount of crazed media speculation about Vice President Vance and Secretary Rubio will deter this Administration’s mission of fighting for the American people.”
For months, Vance has been widely viewed as the early favorite to secure the 2028 Republican nomination. Public polling and Trump’s own remarks have reinforced that perception.
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An NBC News poll released last week found that 77% of Republican voters have a positive view of Vance, compared to 66% for Rubio.
Trump himself has hinted that the Ohio native could be the heir to the MAGA movement.
In August, he told Fox News that Vance was “most likely“ to carry the torch and was “probably favored at this point.”
But the president has also made a point of mentioning Rubio when discussing the party’s future leadership.
“In all fairness, he’s the vice president, and I think Marco is also somebody that maybe would get together with JD in some form,” Trump said.
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Trump again praised Rubio in a May interview with NBC News, calling him a “great” potential Republican leader.
When asked last month about the two men, Trump offered a diplomatic comparison.
“I would say one is slightly more diplomatic than the other,” Trump said, without naming them, though diplomacy is Rubio’s job. “I think they’re both of very high intelligence.”
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