White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles says the 2028 Republican nomination for president is Vice President J.D. Vance’s to lose. In a wide-ranging series of interviews conducted over the last year with Vanity Fair, Wiles reiterated that no one will stand in Vance’s way if the former Ohio senator elects to pursue the nation’s highest office. 

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“If J.D. Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee,” Wiles told Vanity Fair. “And I’ll be one of the first people to support him.” Though some commentators have wondered whether Rubio will launch his own bid to become the GOP’s top man in 2028, Wiles was adamant that the administration is in lockstep with Vance running the show in 2028. 

Wiles said the former Florida senator has changed his stripes to better suit team Trump. “His conversion came when he was running for the Senate,” Wiles said. “And I think his conversion was a little bit more, sort of political.”

Trump has repeatedly suggested that Vance and Rubio could run as a team in 2028 although the president has left the door slightly cracked, at times going as far as to suggest a third term for himself. That reality, however, is unlikely which should clear the path for Vance to assume the nomination if he seeks it.