President Donald Trump isn’t ready to commit to making his vice president the successor of the MAGA movement – at least not yet.
Trump on Sunday night refused to throw his support behind his vice president ascending to the top of the Republican Party ticket in 2028 when he is constitutionally barred from running for a third term.
“No, but he’s very capable,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier when asked if he sees J.D. Vance as his successor for the GOP nomination in the next presidential election.
“You know I think you have a lot of very capable people,” Trump added. “So far he’s doing a fantastic job – it’s too early we just started.”
The revelation came as Baier previewed part two of his Super Bowl night sit-down interview with Trump set to air in its entirety Monday night. When Baier reminded Trump that Vance would be “looking for an endorsement” by the time the midterm elections roll around, Trump quickly shifted to praising himself.
“A lot of people have said that this has been the greatest opening in the history of the presidency,” he told the Fox News host. “We’ve done so much so fast. And we really had to because they have really, what they’ve done to our country is so sad, so sad.”
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Reacting Monday to Trump’s snub of his vice president, Baier said he thought it was “a little shocking when he said 'no.'”
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Baier said as he previewed his interview with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum. “Once you get to the midterms, you start to think about 2028 and obviously one would think that J.D. Vance is going to be trying to position for that role but clearly the president is not ready to talk about that or think about it. He says that there are other people that may get in the mix.”
Baier added that Trump – who became the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl – “definitely does not want to talk about it right now.”
He said while the president has toyed in speeches and rallies with the unconstitutional idea of running for a third term, “in reality, in private, he’s told people that this is his last hurrah."
“He clearly doesn’t just want to give the hat tip to J.D. Vance, at least not yet,” Baier said.
Notably, Trump’s first administration’s vice president, Mike Pence, drew chants of “Hang Mike Pence!” when MAGA supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and chanted for the hanging of then-vice president – which Trump refused to condemn.