In the United States, the battle to inherit Donald Trump’s political movement is already underway — even though the 2028 Republican primary is still a long way off.
At present, the contest increasingly looks like a two-man race between Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Both are seeking to position themselves as the natural successor to Trump, while embodying two very different visions of what a “post-Trump MAGA” (“Make America Great Again”) movement could become.
For now, Vance remains the frontrunner. He has the structural advantages that typically make vice presidents difficult to beat in presidential primaries: proximity to power, constant visibility, and an almost automatic claim to continuity.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Vance comfortably won a straw poll of potential 2028 Republican nominees with 61%.
