Trump Names Vance and Rubio as His Party's 2028 Bench — and Teases Democrats He Says "People Don't Talk About"

Trump Names Vance and Rubio as His Party's 2028 Bench — and Teases Democrats He Says "People Don't Talk About"

Introduction

With eight days to go before the November 3 midterm elections, President Donald Trump used a Michigan campaign stop to look past the midterms altogether — and to offer his first public sketch of the Republican Party's next presidential field.

Speaking with a local Fox affiliate in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday, October 25, ahead of a campaign rally for down-ballot Republicans, Trump named Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the leading names on the Republican side for 2028. He stopped well short of endorsing anyone, said it was too early to pick a front-runner, and then turned to the Democratic field — where he said former Vice President Kamala Harris is leading the early polling, but added cryptically that the strongest Democratic contenders may be people nobody is talking about yet.

The remarks matter for two reasons. First, they come from the sitting president himself, in the middle of a midterm campaign in which he has repeatedly urged Republican voters to vote as if he were on the ballot. Second, they arrive at a moment when early 2028 polling shows neither party's voters settled on a candidate: in the New York Times and Siena University survey Trump himself appeared to cite, 45 percent of Democratic respondents said they did not yet know who they wanted to run.

This article reports only what Trump said, where he said it, and what the survey he referenced actually showed — with each claim attributed to its source. Trump did not endorse a successor, did not name a running mate, and did not announce any 2028 campaign of his own.

What Trump Said in Port Huron

Trump spoke with FOX 2's Roop Raj while on the ground in Port Huron, Michigan, ahead of his midterm rally there on October 25, according to reports of the interview published October 26 by ANI and carried by Latestly and other outlets, and by the Washington Examiner.

Asked directly about who might run for president in 2028, Trump answered: "I could tell you who I think, but it's a little bit early."

He then named the two most prominent members of his own administration as examples of the Republican field's depth.

"We have great names — you have JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and many others. We have a great bench; they (Democrats) have no bench," Trump said, as reported by ANI.

The Washington Examiner's account of the same exchange renders the line with the officials' titles spelled out: "We have [Vice President] JD [Vance], [Secretary of State] Marco [Rubio], and many others. We have a great bench. They have no bench."

Two points in that answer deserve emphasis, because they are easy to over-read. First, Trump named Vance and Rubio as examples — "great names" among "many others" — not as a ticket, and not in any ranked order. Second, he explicitly declined to say who he thinks will run, or who he would prefer. Reports of the exchange, including CubaHeadlines' account, stress the same point: Trump "refrained from naming any one individual as his likely successor" and "did not specify whether he would prefer Vance to lead a future presidential ticket with Rubio as a running mate, nor did he explicitly endorse either of them."

That distinction matters. Naming two senior officials as strong candidates is not the same as an endorsement, and this article does not treat it as one.

The Republican Bench, as Trump Described It

Trump's framing was comparative throughout: Republicans, in his telling, have depth; Democrats do not. "We have a great bench; they (Democrats) have no bench," he said.

The two names he chose are the two most senior figures in his administration after himself. Vance serves as vice president. Rubio serves as secretary of state. Both were named in the same breath, and Trump added "many others" — a phrase that leaves the field deliberately open rather than narrowing it to two people.

The timing of the remarks is also significant. Trump made them on a midterm campaign trip, not at a 2028 event. He was in Michigan to campaign for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers and other down-ballot Republicans, and the Port Huron rally that followed was a midterm rally. The 2028 discussion was a detour inside a midterm trip — which is part of why it drew attention: a president in the final stretch of a midterm campaign, asked about the next presidential race, chose to answer rather than deflect.

Trump also touched on energy and foreign policy in remarks around the Michigan trip, reiterating, as reported by ANI, that Washington would not allow global energy security to be compromised by the Russia-Ukraine war. "We're not going to be hostage with the oil industry over something that, frankly, should've never started," he said, repeating his position that the war was preventable. Those remarks are separate from the 2028 discussion, but they were part of the same Michigan visit.

The Democratic Side: Harris Leading, Newsom Fading From View

Turning to the Democrats, Trump named two figures as "possibilities": former Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he defeated in the 2024 presidential election, and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

"I think Kamala is leading right now, which is pretty amazing, but that's okay if she's leading," Trump said, according to the Washington Examiner. He added, of Newsom: "I haven't seen Gavin's name much lately."

Trump's comment about Harris leading appears to reference a recent New York Times and Siena University survey. In that survey, as reported by the Washington Examiner, Harris polled at 12 percent among Democratic respondents asked to list their first choice for 2028 — putting her at the top of the potential field, but with no other candidate in double digits.

The rest of that survey's Democratic field, as reported by the Examiner, was: Newsom second with 9 percent, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg with 7 percent, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York with 6 percent, Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia with 4 percent, and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona with 3 percent. Fifteen percent of respondents supported another candidate, and 45 percent said they did not currently know who they wanted to run.

Those numbers are worth stating plainly, because they cut against any reading of the early field as settled. A 12-percent lead in a survey where 45 percent are undecided is a snapshot of a wide-open race, not a coronation. The same survey, as summarized by WLT Report, found that Democrats remain divided about their party's future direction, with more wanting the party to move to the center than to the left, while Republicans were more united behind following Trump's lead in 2028 and preferred Vance or Rubio as the next nominee.

Trump's own gloss on the Democratic numbers was characteristically combative, but it also contained the most cryptic line of the whole exchange.

"Four or Five" People "People Don't Talk About"

After discussing Harris and Newsom, Trump added a remark that has driven much of the coverage since:

"No, you have four or five — you have some good people that people don't talk about, actually," he said. "I hope they continue not to talk about them."

The Washington Examiner's headline picked up exactly that line: "Trump: 'People don't talk' about Democrats' strongest 2028 candidate." Its report describes the answer as "cryptic" and notes Trump's suggestion that he views "someone other than the top polling candidates as the greatest threat toward Republicans retaining the White House."

Trump did not name any of those four or five people. He did not say whether they are governors, senators, or figures outside elected office. He did not say whether his comment was a genuine assessment, a piece of misdirection, or both. This article therefore does not guess at their identities. Any report that names them is speculating beyond what Trump said.

What can be said is what the remark does politically. By suggesting that the strongest Democratic contenders are not the ones topping early polls, Trump simultaneously downplays Harris's lead and warns his own party not to grow complacent about a field that early polling may not capture. It is also, notably, a compliment of sorts to unnamed Democrats — a rare note in a midterm campaign otherwise defined by sharp attacks on Democratic candidates.

The Vice-President Question: "Too Cute"

In a separate exchange with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump was asked whether he himself might run as a vice-presidential candidate in 2028 — a scenario that has circulated in online speculation. Trump dismissed the idea.

He said he would be "allowed to do that," but called the plan "too cute," according to a report of the gaggle. He pointed again to Vance and Rubio as prospective candidates, saying: "We have great people. I don't have to get into that, but we have one of them standing right here. We have JD, obviously. The Vice President is great. Marco is great, I think. I'm not sure if anybody would run against those. I think if they ever formed a group, it would be unstoppable."

That "unstoppable" line is the closest Trump came to sketching a ticket — and even here, he framed it as a hypothetical ("if they ever formed a group"), not as a plan. He did not say Vance and Rubio would run together, did not say he had discussed it with them, and did not endorse either man. The Air Force One exchange is best read alongside the FOX 2 interview: in both, Trump praises the same two officials, declines to pick between them, and leaves the field open.

The vice-president speculation itself has no basis in any announcement by Trump. His answer — that he could legally do it but considers the idea "too cute" — is a dismissal, not an opening.

Why This Matters Eight Days Before the Midterms

It may seem odd for a midterm news story to dwell on 2028. The reason it matters is that the 2026 midterms will shape the 2028 field in concrete ways.

The November 3 election decides control of all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats, along with 39 governorships. The outcome will determine how much of Trump's legislative agenda can advance in the final two years of his term, which in turn shapes the record any Republican successor would run on — and the record any Democratic challenger would run against.

The midterms also serve as a testing ground for the very figures Trump named. Governors and senators on the ballot in 2026 who win — or who outperform expectations in difficult states — will enter the 2028 conversation with fresh momentum. Those who lose, or who underperform, will find the conversation moving on without them. That is true on both sides: the Democratic field's early polling, with 45 percent undecided, leaves enormous room for midterm performances to reorder it.

There is also a simpler political reason the remarks landed. Trump has spent the midterm campaign presenting himself as the central figure in the election, urging supporters to vote as if he were on the ballot. By naming potential successors, he extends that centrality forward: the question of who carries the Republican banner after him is, for his supporters and opponents alike, the most consequential open question in American politics — and he has now, however briefly, answered it in his own terms.

Finally, the remarks set up the dynamic to watch over the next two years. If Vance and Rubio both remain prominent, and if neither is endorsed early, the Republican contest could become a genuine competition between the vice president and the secretary of state — two men who currently serve in the same administration. If Trump eventually endorses one of them, that endorsement would likely reshape the field overnight. For now, he has chosen to name both and pick neither.

What's Next

Several things to watch in the coming days and weeks:

First, whether Vance or Rubio respond publicly to being named. Neither has announced a 2028 campaign, and neither was reported to have commented on Trump's remarks in the coverage reviewed for this article.

Second, whether new 2028 polling moves the Democratic numbers. The New York Times and Siena survey's 45-percent undecided figure means the Democratic field is unusually fluid, and post-midterm polling — after voters have seen which candidates and messages succeeded on November 3 — could look very different.

Third, whether Trump returns to the subject on the campaign trail. He has eight days of midterm campaigning left, with rallies and interviews still to come, and each appearance is another chance for a reporter to ask the 2028 question again — and for Trump to name, or pointedly decline to name, new names.

Fourth, the midterms themselves. Whatever the 2028 field eventually looks like, it will be shaped first by what happens on November 3: which party controls the House and Senate, which governors win in swing states, and which rising figures emerge from the results.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Trump endorse JD Vance or Marco Rubio for 2028?

No. Trump named both men as strong candidates and said Republicans have "a great bench," but he explicitly said it was "a little bit early" to say who he thinks will run, and he did not endorse either man or rank them.

Did Trump say Vance and Rubio would run together as a ticket?

No. He said that "if they ever formed a group, it would be unstoppable" — a hypothetical, not an announcement. He did not say they would run together or that he had discussed it with them.

What did Trump say about Kamala Harris?

He said Harris is "leading right now" among potential Democratic candidates, which matches the New York Times and Siena survey in which she polled at 12 percent among Democratic respondents — the top figure, but with no other candidate above 9 percent and 45 percent undecided.

Who are the "four or five" Democrats Trump said people don't talk about?

Trump did not name them. He said Democrats have "some good people that people don't talk about" and added, "I hope they continue not to talk about them." Any identification of those people would be speculation.

Did Trump rule out running as vice president in 2028?

He did not issue a formal ruling, but he dismissed the idea as "too cute" in a gaggle aboard Air Force One, while noting he would be "allowed to do that." He pointed instead to Vance and Rubio as prospective candidates.

Why is Trump talking about 2028 during a midterm campaign?

He was asked about it directly in a FOX 2 interview ahead of his Port Huron midterm rally. The answer matters because the midterm results will shape the 2028 field, and because Trump remains the dominant figure in Republican politics — so his view of his potential successors carries weight even eight days before an election about Congress, not the presidency.

Sources

Washington Examiner: "Trump: 'People don't talk' about Democrats' strongest 2028 candidate" (October 26, 2026) — FOX 2 interview account, New York Times/Siena survey figures.

Latestly / ANI: "'We Have a Great Bench': Trump Names JD Vance, Marco Rubio Among Potential 2028 Contenders" (October 26, 2026) — FOX 2 interview with Roop Raj, energy remarks.

CubaHeadlines: "Who Could Run in 2028? Trump's Take on Potential Successors" — no endorsement, no ticket specified.

WLT Report: "President Trump Is Asked Who Will Run In 2028, Here's His Response" — New York Times/Siena survey summary.

Report of Air Force One gaggle: Trump on a vice-presidential run ("too cute") and the "unstoppable" remark about Vance and Rubio.