Vance says he thinks Trump will endorse him if he runs

Vice President Vance said on Monday that if he runs for the GOP presidential nomination in 2028, President Trump “would endorse” him amid speculation over whether he will announce a bid.

“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 in an interview with 2WAY . “And because the president’s endorsement is so dispositive, you could absolutely see a scenario where the president says, ‘You know what? We need to let like this race play out and not preemptively prejudge the results.’”

“Like sometimes you know media scrutiny, pressure, policy. I can be terrible at it, and that is the sort of thing that maybe you know, so I don’t know,” he continued.

Vance stated he had never spoken with Trump about potentially running for president, adding, “if I run, I think the president would endorse me. But I also haven’t talked to him about it yet.”

The vice president has reiterated multiple times he is focused on the 2026 midterm election, though many see him as the heir apparent to the Republican Party after Trump exits the White House.

A Focaldata/Financial Times poll found 38 percent of respondents picked Vance as the Republican nominee in 2028 over his perceived top contender , Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump has also repeatedly egged on the competition between Vance and Rubio for the 2028 Republican nomination. Vance even jokingly likened the competition to the president’s former reality show, “The Apprentice.”

Rubio told donors and other allies that he will not run, particularly against Vance, sources told The Hill .

The vice president has also appeared at numerous rallies alongside Trump on his red state campaign blitz, with one Republican operative telling The Hill that he “will continue to be another fantastic surrogate on the trail.”

“He’s able to reach voters where they’re at across the Midwest and beyond,” the Republican operative added.

In August, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) denied that the Republican Party had coalesced around Vance as a 2028 nominee, saying the party will first have a “full discussion about who we are and what we believe.”