Vice President JD Vance said he believes President Trump would endorse him if he runs for president in 2028, though he acknowledged he isn’t entirely sure.
“I don’t know, man,” Vance said.
The vice president made the remarks during an interview with journalist Mark Halperin on Monday, which aired on Halperin’s 2WAY platform.
“DON’T THE VOTERS GET A SAY?”
Halperin opened by pointing to recent comments from Vance, in which the vice president said that “whoever the president endorses for the Republican nomination will ultimately win the Republican primary.”
“I thought, ‘Well, don’t the voters get a say in this?’” Halperin said.
Vance agreed that voters have a say, but explained that he believes the president earned the deep trust of his base at a time when the party’s “elites” were against him.
“That’s the person they say, ‘Okay, if Trump is with a guy, that must mean that the elites are against that guy,’” Vance said. “I think that Trump’s endorsement just carries more weight than any political endorsement in history because of that.”
“Obviously, the voters are gonna decide. Donald Trump is only one vote of many, but I think his endorsement is still the most powerful,” he added.
WOULD TRUMP “TOY WITH” VANCE?
Halperin then brought up a recent panel he conducted, where he asked about a possible Vance presidential run and whether Trump would back him.
All four panelists believed the vice president was almost certain to run. But they also predicted Trump would hold off on endorsing him for some time in order to “toy with” his vice president.
Vance stressed that he remains focused on the upcoming midterms and is unsure about 2028.
“I think if I run, the president will endorse me,” he said.
“Right away?” Halperin asked.
“I would think so, but I don’t know, man,” Vance said. “I haven’t talked to him about it.”
“LET THIS RACE PLAY OUT”
Halperin suggested it would be “kinda weird” if Vance told the president he was running and Trump responded that he needed to think about it.
Vance disagreed.
“No, I don’t think it’d be weird,” the vice president said. “Again, I think I would get his endorsement, but I also think there’s something to be said for people actually running their own race.”
He added that because the president’s endorsement is so “dispositive,” there could be a scenario where Trump decides to “let, like, this race play out and not, like, preemptively prejudge the results.”
“You might be horrible at it,” Halperin remarked.
“I might be terrible at it,” Vance agreed.
NO CONVERSATION YET
The vice president made clear that he and the president have not discussed the matter.
“So, I don’t know. Again, having never spoken to the president about this, I can’t speak to his psychology on it,” Vance said.
“But my attitude is that if I run, I think the president would endorse me, but I also haven’t talked to him about it yet,” he added.
For now, Vance said, his focus remains on the midterms, with any decision about 2028 still ahead.
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