President Trump has said Vice President JD Vance is probably the favorite to succeed him on the 2028 GOP ticket, but lately he also has been talking up a trusted adviser, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

As the Trump administration tries to chart a path out of its Jeffrey Epstein mess, senior aides turned to someone who has increasingly become one of the president’s chief problem solvers: Vice President JD Vance. Ghislaine Maxwell said Donald Trump never did anything in her presence that would cause concern, according to reports.

While President Donald Trump has previously publicly floated both JD Vance and Marco Rubio as potential heirs, he has so far refused to anoint a successor ahead of the 2028 campaign.