Trump Tips His Hand on His Pick for 2028 in Closed-Door Donor Meeting: Report

As of August 2026, President Donald Trump’s endorsement still carries substantial weight inside the Republican Party.

Thus, anyone who earns that endorsement enjoys a significant advantage in all GOP primaries.

According to The Washington Post, Trump told donors in a private Oval Office meeting late last month that they should rally around Vice President J.D. Vance as the party’s presidential nominee in 2028.

“At the end of the day, we need to elect J.D.,” Trump said in that meeting.

The Post cited two anonymous sources “with knowledge of the comments.”

Likewise, one of the president’s advisers, who knew of the comments to donors, confirmed that Trump has settled on Vance.

If so, then that decision runs counter to the president’s public statements.

Publicly, Trump has touted a contest between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, or perhaps even a joint ticket.

“I think if they ever formed a group, it would be unstoppable,” the president said in a 2025 clip posted to the social media platform X.

2028 TALK: “I think if they ever formed a group it would be unstoppable.”

President Trump backs a potential JD Vance–Marco Rubio ticket for 2028 —but doesn’t quite rule out his own political future. pic.twitter.com/DsQdCxNwY8

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 27, 2025

Both Vance and Rubio have downplayed talk of a budding rivalry. The secretary of state, in fact, has already pledged to support Vance should the vice president choose to run.

Of course, in his capacity as the nation’s top diplomat, Rubio enjoys fewer opportunities to showcase himself publicly.

By contrast, in June the vice president made the rounds on various networks and platforms promoting his new book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.”

On that book tour, for instance, Vance appeared in generally hostile settings such as ABC’s “The View.” There, he used humor to charm the anti-Trump co-hosts and their liberal audience.

In one stop on that tour, a much friendlier interview with The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles, the vice president even predicted that Democrats would nominate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as their 2028 presidential candidate.

Around the same time as his book tour, Vance also made network appearances defending the Iran ceasefire he negotiated.

RealClearPolling’s aggregate of polls has consistently shown Vance with a double-digit lead over Rubio in a hypothetical 2028 primary. (The Western Journal’s non-scientific straw poll for the week of July 20-26, however, gave the secretary of state a commanding 26-point lead over the vice president.)

Meanwhile, RealClearPolling has Trump’s job approval at 39.3 percent. That number falls within striking distance of then-President George W. Bush’s approval rating on this date in 2006.

Should Trump’s approval rating continue to plummet, the value of his endorsement will almost certainly do likewise.

For now, however, the president enjoys a strong, nearly unassailable record in GOP primary endorsements.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.