JD Vance Unsure Trump Would Immediately Endorse His 2028 Presidential Bid: 'I Don't Know, Man'

Vice President JD Vance expects President Donald Trump to endorse him if he runs for president in 2028, but he is unsure whether the backing would come immediately. The comments come amid speculation about Vance's political ambitions.

Speaking on 2WAY Tonight on Monday, 19 October, journalist Mark Halperin asked Vance whether Trump would endorse him as soon as he announced a presidential bid. 'I think if I run, the president will endorse me,' Vance said. 'Right away?' Halperin asked.

'I would think so, but I don't know, man,' Vance replied. 'I haven't talked to him about it.'

Vance Says a Delayed Endorsement Would Not Be Weird

Halperin suggested it would be 'weird' if Vance told Trump he planned to run in 2028 and the president withheld an endorsement, a characterisation Vance disputed. 'No, I don't think it'd be weird,' Vance said.

'Again, I think I would get his endorsement,' he said. He also added that there could be a case for candidates to run their own campaigns before receiving an endorsement from the president, whose backing Vance described as 'so dispositive' that Trump might prefer to let the Republican primary race play out before choosing a candidate.

'You could absolutely see a scenario where the president says, "You know what? We need to let, like, this race play out and not, like, preemptively prejudge the results,"' Vance said.

Vance Says Trump's Endorsement Carries Exceptional Weight

Earlier in the interview, Halperin challenged Vance's previous assertion that Trump's endorsement would determine the Republican primary winner. Vance said that endorsements from sitting presidents and party leaders can influence nominations in both major parties but argued that Trump's support has particular significance for Republicans.

Vance said Trump's endorsement carries unusual weight because, in his view, Republican voters came to trust Trump despite opposition from party elites. 'That's the person they say, "Okay, if Trump is with a guy, that must mean that the elites are against that guy,"' Vance said. 'I think that Trump's endorsement just carries more weight than any political endorsement in history because of that.'

The vice president acknowledged that Republican voters would ultimately decide the nominee, describing Trump as one voter among many. Still, he called the president's backing 'the most powerful' political endorsement.

Vance's uncertainty over securing Trump's endorsement follows Trump's May remarks, when he called Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio a 'dream team' and floated a potential 2028 ticket. Trump stopped short of publicly endorsing either man or naming his preferred candidate.

Vance Puts 2028 Speculation on Hold as Midterms Loom

Vance reiterated that his immediate priority is the 2026 midterm elections, saying he had 'really not made up my mind' about a presidential run. Nevertheless, a New York Times aggregation of recent polls shows Vance leading the early 2028 Republican presidential field by a wide margin. That advantage does not guarantee a nomination, however, and Trump's eventual position could become a major factor as the Republican field takes shape.

The interview also touched on Israeli politics, where Vance declined to endorse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his reelection bid, taking a different position from Trump, who has publicly backed the Israeli leader. 'I'm not anti-endorsing him. I'm not pro-endorsing him. I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections,' he said.