President Donald Trump said it’s too soon to say whether Vice President JD Vance will be his successor in 2028, noting that the administration’s work is just beginning and that Vance is continuing to grow in his role on the national stage.
In a Fox News interview with anchor Bret Baier, released on Feb. 10, Trump was asked if he viewed Vance as his successor. He responded, “No, but he’s very capable.”
“I think you have a lot of very capable people,” Trump said. “So far, I think he’s doing a fantastic job. It’s too early. We’re just starting.”
At just 40 years old, Vance is one of the youngest vice presidents in U.S. history. Before joining Trump’s ticket, he had served only 18 months as a U.S. senator for Ohio—his first and only public office.
Vance’s selection as Trump’s running mate initially drew skepticism, including from within the Republican Party. After winning the presidential election, Trump acknowledged he had “taken a little heat” for choosing Vance and said he believed it was a “good choice.”
The rise of Vance in Republican politics has been marked by an evolution in his stance on Trump. Once a vocal critic, he later embraced Trump’s policies, a shift his critics saw as political opportunism.
In interviews, Vance has insisted there was no single turning point in his change of heart. Instead, he said, his original opposition to Trump was rooted in style rather than substance.
Vance, who said in the interview that he voted for Trump in 2020, added that much of the pushback to Trump was rooted in “a kind of social pressure,” which was itself driven by a “complete overreaction” to some of his controversial public statements.
Trump’s remarks about Vance’s future came as the vice president made his debut on the global stage, attending a high-stakes AI summit in Paris, France, on Feb. 10, which will be followed by a security conference in Munich, Germany, later in the week.
In Paris, Vance is expected to push back on European efforts to tighten AI regulations, advocating instead for a more innovation-driven approach amid a global race to dictate the future of AI. The summit, which has drawn world leaders, top tech executives, and policymakers, will focus on AI’s impact on global security, economics, and governance.
