Vice President JD Vance may be first in the presidential succession line, but that doesn’t mean he’s also the top choice for the 2028 Republican nominee—at least, according to his own boss.
President Donald Trump got straight to the point in a snippet of a Fox News interview with anchor Bret Baier, which is expected to air in full on Monday night.
“Do you view Vice President JD Vance as your successor, the Republican nominee in 2028?” Baier asked.
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“No,” Trump responded briskly. “But he’s very capable. I think you have a lot of very capable people so far. I think he’s doing a fantastic job. It’s too early. We’re just starting.”
Baier pointed out that Vance may expect Trump’s endorsement by the midterm elections, but the president seemed eager to move past the topic.
“A lot of people have said that this has been the greatest opening—almost three weeks—in the history of the presidency,” Trump said. “We’ve done so much, so fast. And we really had to, because what they’ve done to our country is so sad. It’s so sad. We’re going to be bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
Speaking to The Story With Martha MacCallum on Monday, even Baier admitted he was surprised by the president’s response.
“I think it was a little shocking when he said ‘No.’ I wasn’t expecting that,” Baier said. “Once you get to the midterm, you start to think about 2028. And obviously one would think JD Vance is going to be trying to position for that role. But clearly, the president is not ready to talk about that, or think about it, and says that there are other people that may get in the mix.”
Vance has been credited with securing Senate confirmations for some of Trump’s most divisive nominees.
The vice president cast the dramatic tie-breaking vote to install Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense following a blizzard of sexual and alcohol abuse allegations.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy also said his conversations with Vance helped him decide to vote in favor of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.
Vance has also taken a lot of heat for the Trump administration’s controversial policies, several of which have been blocked by federal judges.
On Sunday, the vice president was mocked for saying that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”
