Flashing red warning for 'lame duck' Trump’s VP as Rubio crowned MAGA 'hero': GOP insiders
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U.S. President Donald Trump with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C., March 6, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
Republican insiders have been lavishing praise on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to The Hill, with one going so far as to call him a "hero" for the GOP. This has heightened concerns about Vice President JD Vance's status as Donald Trump's 2028 successor.
Rubio has been at the forefront of Trump's recent overseas military excursions, including the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the ongoing strikes against Iran. During a recent press conference on the Iran conflict, the president said Rubio could one day be considered "the greatest secretary of State in history" and said, "He’s been successful no matter where he’s been." At the same conference, Trump only noted that Vance is "philosophically a little different" from himself regarding the Iran strikes.
Both men are considered leading contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination, with recent reports indicating that Trump is pitting them against each other to secure his endorsement. One anonymous Republican fundraiser claimed that Trump has repeatedly been asking those in his orbit who they prefer between Rubio and Vance, including during an event at Mar-a-Lago last week. Sources who attended the event differed in their take on the responses, with some saying the room was split and others saying they skewed towards Rubio.
“Trump knows this is playing in the backdrop, and he’s struggling with it,” the fundraiser explained. “That’s why he keeps asking people what they’re thinking.”
The fundraiser noted that Vance might benefit from a perceived break with Trump over the Iran war, given its notable unpopularity with voters.
"The things [Trump's] doing now, these are not popular, win-the-midterms moves," they said.
While other sources noted that the 2028 nomination remains Vance's to lose and that the entire GOP apparatus is lined up to support him, the fundraiser predicted that Rubio will emerge as a favorite, while noting that the secretary is currently "in a tenuous position and it’s fraught with danger."
"Things could change obviously, but I think if Trump had to pick a favorite at this moment, it would be Marco," they said. "There’s a lot of things that could go wrong with the war and gas prices, but right now, he’s the hero, and not just with the president."
GOP strategist Brian Seitchik told The Hill that this tendency to foster competition among his subordinates was a common tactic for Trump, going back to his TV days.
"It’s very Trump to constantly do a pulse check on how folks feel about Marco versus Vance," Seitchik said. "That is very much in the president’s DNA, to get a sense of where donors are and politicos and even folks in the media. The president is always evaluating and comparing, and he’s well aware also that, by nature, those types of questions generate competition, which anyone who’s watched ‘The Apprentice’ knows he values."
Jason Cabel Roe, the national media spokesperson for Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign, suggested that Trump's questioning of his allies about Rubio and Vance means he thinks highly of both of them, though he may be concerned that the decision about who to endorse will render him "a lame duck sooner."