Many in the GOP establishment hoped that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would challenge Vice President JD Vance in the 2028 GOP Presidential primary.
Rubio’s supporters finally got their answer.
And all hell broke loose when Marco Rubio made this shocking 2028 announcement.
Many establishment Republicans and neoconservatives have spent the last year trying to read the tea leaves on every move made by Rubio in hopes they were laying the groundwork for a 2028 Presidential campaign.
These Republicans – such as Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch, Ben Shapiro, and the crew at National Review- despise JD Vance because he is the next evolution of Trump’s MAGA movement and that he will continue cracking down on legal immigration as well as illegal immigration, supports Trump’s tariffs, backs policies to make having children more affordable, and opposes the Iran war.
Rubio, on the other hand, is a neoconservative hawk on foreign policy and wrote the 2013 Gang of 8 Amnesty bill.
The anti-Vance Republicans got their answer from Rubio about running for President in 2028.
And it wasn’t what they wanted to hear.
During a trip to Colombia, Rubio swore off a 2028 Presidential run.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I have no plans at this time,” Rubio told reporters. “I’m not a candidate for anything right now. And I’m 100% focused on my job, and I have to be because I have two jobs.”Those familiar with Rubio’s thinking said he had no plans to run for President in 2028 and that he liked his current jobs as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.
“Rubio loves being Secretary of State and is really enjoying the job,” the source told NBC News. “The president trusts him to have a big portfolio. He is still young, and smart in both policy and politics, and is keeping his options open for the future”
But Rubio could run in the future as the establishment’s hope to restore a pre-Trump GOP.
“If you asked him if he’s interested in 2032 or 2036, he would probably say sure,” the source added.
Rubio not running in 2028 is just bowing to reality.
Polls show Vance is by far and away the frontrunner.
🇺🇲 2028 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES
🔵 Harris: 17% (-1)
🔵 Buttigieg: 16% (+5)
🔵 AOC: 14% (+3)
🔵 Newsom: 14% (-7)
🔵 Kelly: 10% (+3)
🔵 Booker: 4%
🔵 Shapiro: 3%
🔵 Beshear: 3%
🔵 Warren: 3%
🔵 Pritzker: 2%
🔵 Whitmer: 1%
🔵 Emanuel: 0%
——
🔴 Vance: 44% (-7)
🔴 Rubio: 21% (+6)
🔴… pic.twitter.com/2dYM5tvh0O— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) September 9, 2026
Trump has also reportedly told donors it’s time to get behind Vance as the candidate for 2028.
For his part, Rubio has said publicly over and over again that he would be the first person to endorse Vance if Vance runs in 2028.
“If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio said in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2025.
The person close to Rubio told NBC News that Rubio is good friends with Vance and that running against Vance would set up a neoconservative versus America First primary showdown that would split the GOP and help Democrats win in 2028.
“He would never jump in front of JD. They are friends, and he would support his run in any way that he could,” the person close to Rubio added. “He would never want to split the base in that way, particularly when there will be plenty of infighting on the Democratic side. The priority is for a Republican to win in 2028.”
President Trump has hinted that his ultimate goal is for Rubio to join Vance in 2028 as a “dream team” to keep the White House in Republican hands.
“I do believe that’s a dream team,” Trump declared at a White House event. “That does not mean you have my endorsement under any circumstances.”
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