Trump suggests a joint Vance-Rubio Republican ticket for 2028, calling them unbeatable together in a recent podcast interview.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump thinks the two Republicans most likely to jockey to succeed him would make an unbeatable ticket if they run together, he told an interviewer Wednesday.
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are both widely seen as strong contenders to run for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination — and as rivals.
“I like them both. I like them together,” Trump said on the New York Post podcast “Pod Force One,” adding: “I don’t know how you beat them if they’re together.”
The two men would have to agree to it but “they get along really well,” Trump mused.
He did not venture to say who should be at the top of the ticket.
Neither man has officially declared his intention to run, and Rubio, 54, has publicly said that the vice president is a friend and insisted that he would not run in 2028 if Vance is a candidate.
Recent polls suggest that Vance and Rubio are nearly tied among Republican voters.
Last month, Rubio attracted buzz for confidently handling a White House press briefing, fielding questions on Iran, Cuba and China with a relaxed style and dashes of humor — and little of the invective that Trump often unleashes in his briefing room appearances.
