Trump pushes Vance-Rubio ticket idea as Rubio tours South America
Vice President JD Vance closed the Republican convention in Dallas this week with a Thursday night prime-time address, a high-dollar fundraiser, and a day of meetings with delegates from the four states most likely to decide the next presidential election. The Journal’s reporting and attendee reactions suggested the moment was likely to solidify Vance’s standing as the front-runner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination.
The two-day gathering doubled as an opening argument for the party’s next presidential primary. In more than three dozen interviews on the convention floor, at nearby hotels, and in restaurants and bars, attendees repeatedly paired Vance’s name with that of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, debating which should carry the Republican standard once President Trump leaves the stage. Some said the two should run together. Others held out hope that Trump would defy the Constitution and run for a third term, or that he would campaign as Vance’s vice president. Convention attendees rarely mentioned other potential Republican presidential candidates.
Vance’s speech fired up the crowd, as he laid out his vision for the America he wants his children to grow up in while painting Democrats as extreme. During the address, audience members shouted “48!” — a reference to the fact that Trump is the 47th U.S. president and the next will be the 48th. “We’ve got to take care of business this November, then we’ll worry about what comes next,” Vance said.
Earlier on Thursday, Vance met with delegates from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin — the four states most likely to determine the outcome of the next presidential election. He also headlined a Republican National Committee fundraiser that pulled in $2 million, according to people familiar with the event. Vance serves as finance chairman of the RNC and has used the role to deepen his ties to major donors.
While Vance headlined Dallas, Rubio was more than 3,000 miles away, wrapping up a three-day diplomatic tour of South America. The trip drew repeated references to his political future. In Barranquilla, Colombia, when Rubio joked that the country’s new leader, Abelardo de la Espriella, “went crazy and decided to run for president,” de la Espriella pointed at Rubio and told the cameras: “He’s next!”
Asked by reporters in Colombia whether he dreamed of becoming president, Rubio, 55, quipped: “I don’t know what the future holds, but I have no plans at this time.” He said he was focused on his work as secretary of state and as Trump’s national security adviser. He has told associates he would not challenge Vance, 42, if Vance runs in 2028, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
President Trump has at times appeared to pit Vance and Rubio against each other, polling friends and associates about whom they prefer, though aides and others close to him said he has done less of that recently. He was impressed with Vance’s media appearances during a book tour this summer, including a stop on “The View,” the aides said. More recently, Trump has become fixated on another idea: how to put Vance and Rubio on the same 2028 ticket, which he considers unbeatable, according to people familiar with his thinking. Such a pairing is unlikely, allies of both men said, because neither would want to serve as vice president.
Convention attendees echoed the Vance-Rubio pairing in their own words, frequently saying the two names as though they were one word: VanceRubio. “I love those two guys,” said Sandra Bush, 76, of San Antonio, who was wearing a full-length sequin gown reminiscent of the Texas state flag.
Delegate views on the hypothetical ticket diverged. “I think the country is really getting to know him,” said Michael Foster, 32, of Raleigh, N.C., referring to Vance. “I’d be shocked if he hadn’t sealed the deal tonight.” Gayle Hepler, a 69-year-old mortgage broker from Vancouver, Wash., was more certain: “Oh, we love JD. He’s just so forthright and he’s so humble, I just think he’s going to make the best president.”
Others were less decided. “Man, it’s hard,” said Ron Petri, a minister from Dallas. “It’s Rubio, but then I’ll be like, I can see Vance. I think it’s going to be Vance. He’s closer to the youth movement.”
The Vance-or-Rubio debate — which unfolded in private conversations on the sidelines of the convention, and in nearby restaurants and hotel bars — reflected broader uncertainty among donors, conservative activists and the president himself over who should lead the post-Trump Republican Party. “I’d love to see him do like a TV show, like ‘The Apprentice,’ and have them all in there and at the end endorse one,” said North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, chair of the House Republicans’ campaign arm, referring to the reality show that Trump once hosted.
Deb Spencer of Boyd, Texas, said she wanted more of Vance in the coming months: “We’ve been seeing Rubio all the time. We need to see JD more out in public — much more than we are.”
Some attendees focused on Rubio’s absence from Dallas, suggesting he might be distancing himself from a Trump-designed convention at a difficult moment for the party. Rubio has said his role as the nation’s top diplomat means he should stay out of domestic politics. “Marco Rubio has been doing a fantastic job as secretary of state, and I am so sad that he’s overseas right now and not with us,” said Andre Stafford, 25, who is running for a Georgia state House seat. Stafford added: “I would love for Trump to run again but I would hate for a Democrat to get into office and do the same thing. So as much as I love the president, I think it’s time for him to go hang out at Mar-a-Lago.”
Beyond Vance and Rubio, the field of potential Republican candidates appeared more crowded than the convention floor suggested. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is openly toying with the idea of running. Celeste Cabrera Huff, a Texas state House candidate, offered her own theory about who might end up as the nominee: “We’re hearing Trump 2028, but we’re not seeing which Trump,” she said, raising the possibility that it could be one of Trump’s children. “Who knows? We would support it.”
A spokesman for Vance declined to comment. Representatives for Rubio did not respond to a request for comment.