Trump Backs JD Vance for 2028 After Memoir Tour and Weight Loss
Updated
Updated · ms.now · Jul 24
Trump Backs JD Vance for 2028 After Memoir Tour and Weight Loss
3 articles · Updated · ms.now · Jul 24
Summary
Five people familiar with Trump’s private comments said he has largely stopped weighing JD Vance against Marco Rubio and is now telling aides and donors, “JD’s our guy.”
Vance’s recent memoir tour appears to have shifted Trump’s view: he handled interviews on “The View,” Bill Maher’s HBO show, Fox News and Megyn Kelly’s podcast while carrying the administration’s message.
Trump has also privately praised Vance’s slimmer appearance, with two people familiar with the comments pointing to his recent weight loss as another factor in the president’s warmer view.
The backing is not absolute: Trump was disappointed by the collapse of a U.S.-Iran memorandum Vance helped negotiate, and some White House officials complain Vance’s team is overly fixated on online commentary.
Rubio and Vance publicly deny any real rivalry, but hawkish Republicans still see Rubio as an alternative to Vance’s more noninterventionist foreign-policy instincts, leaving the 2028 field unsettled.