JD Vance said he thinks Donald Trump will endorse him for president in 2028, but Trump shot that down hours later with Vance standing behind him.
Vice President JD Vance has spent much of the build-up to the midterm elections putting feelers out for his potential presidential run in 2028.
He has spent the latter part of the summer promoting his book about converting to Catholicism. Over the past couple of weeks, Vance has also been active with town-hall debates and interviews where he even broke ranks with the president by declining to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In one of those interviews, Vance brought forth a positive prediction about Trump endorsing him if he ran for president. That illusion was quickly shattered in the White House.
Vance thinks Trump is going to endorse him
During an interview with the digital media platform 2WAY, Vance expressed certainty that his boss would endorse him for president if he decided to run in 2028.
“If I run, I think the president would endorse me. But I also haven’t talked to him about it yet.”
While Vance kept hedging that Trump might let the Republican primary election run its course, he kept reiterating that Trump “would endorse” him.
“I think I would get his endorsement, but I also think there’s something to be said for people actually running their own race,” Vance said.
Trump quickly rebuffs Vance
Just a day later, Vance’s prediction and hope were dismissed by Trump. To make the situation even worse and more humiliating for the vice president, it was done while Vance was standing right behind him.
A reporter brought up the 2WAY interview with Vance to Trump and asked him to comment on it. Trump started to shake his head in disgust and gave this candid answer:
“He’s a very talented person, he’s a good person, but we’ve literally never talked about it. It’s very early right now.”
Not quite the ringing endorsement that Vance was hoping for.
Not the first time Trump has refused to endorse Vance
This is far from the first time that Trump has poured cold water on the idea of Vance being his successor.
During an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump was asked if he viewed Vance as the next Republican nominee in 2028. Trump was very forthcoming:
“No, but he is very capable. I think you have a lot of very capable people,” Trump said with an emphasis on the “no.”
