{"id":2446,"date":"2026-06-02T09:35:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T09:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2446"},"modified":"2026-06-02T09:35:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T09:35:02","slug":"ranking-the-2028-republican-presidential-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2446","title":{"rendered":"Ranking the 2028 Republican presidential contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vance and Rubio top the early list, but Republicans are already debating who can inherit Trump\u2019s movement.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Pope Leo plays tennis religiously as part of an Augustinian devotion to sports and spirituality<\/a><\/p>\n

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(Washington Post illustration; Jabin Botsford\/The Washington Post; Eric Lee\/For The Washington Post; Maxine Wallace\/The Washington Post; Tom Brenner\/For The Washington Post; Demetrius Freeman\/The Washington Post; Evan Vucci\/AP; iStock)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Who is going to lead the Republican Party after a decade of President Donald Trump? A succession fight is brewing over who inherits his movement \u2014 and whether any Republican can build a campaign by breaking away from it.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s approval has fallen nationally, but he remains dominant inside his party. An Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll<\/a> earlier this year found that 71 percent of Republican voters think Republican leaders should follow in Trump\u2019s mold. But as some prominent figures on the right break with Trump on issues like Iran, party insiders expect someone to test whether Republican voters want an alternative to his brand of conservatism.<\/p>\n

Here is how the early field is taking shape for the 2028 Republican primaries. (This is our third ranking<\/a>. And you can read our ranking of Democratic 2028 prospects here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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Vice President JD Vance is the obvious heir apparent. (Demetrius Freeman\/The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

JD Vance:<\/b> As the logical heir apparent, Vice President Vance has hewed close to Trump on nearly everything.<\/p>\n

He has defended the administration\u2019s policies, even when doing so requires<\/a> him to reverse his positions, like supporting the war in Iran<\/a> and answering for the president\u2019s stock trading when Vance has called for a ban on such practices. Perhaps more important in a Republican primary, Vance has adopted Trump\u2019s populist flair and combative style; cursing<\/a> at his critics, responding to tough questions by attacking the media<\/a> and brushing off a debate in his party about conspiracy theorists as a \u201cpurity test.” He seems ready to run, traveling to Iowa<\/a> last month, although he\u2019s said<\/a> privately he won\u2019t make a decision on running until the birth of his fourth child, in July.<\/p>\n

But some party insiders are questioning how much Vance can keep together Trump\u2019s coalition without Trump. <\/i>Vance has begun making overtures to the rest of the nation. He struck a tone of unity<\/a> earlier this month, declaring that “a fundamental principle of all the great faiths is we are all children of God, and because of that, we are endowed by certain rights that are unique to our status as human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

His future in Republican politics could be a long one. At 41, he\u2019s the youngest candidate on this list and one of the youngest vice presidents in history.<\/a><\/p>\n

Marco Rubio:<\/b> Trump\u2019s secretary of state has said he\u2019ll support Vance if Vance runs. But some Republicans aren\u2019t convinced Rubio is sitting it out and lately, many see the makings of a presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month Rubio had a viral moment<\/a> on the right when asked his views <\/b>on <\/b>America: “We want it to continue to be the place where anyone from anywhere can achieve anything,\u201d Rubio said from behind a White House podium. \u201cOurs is a story of perpetual improvement. Each generation has left the next generation of Americans freer, more prosperous, safer, and that is our goal as well.\u201d The uplifting answer echoed his 2015 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

While Rubio is leading the president’s foreign policy (everything from Iran to Gaza peace talks to Venezuela), his natural approach to politics is more of a traditional conservative than MAGA. Some Republican insiders think there’s a lane for that; others don’t see the party quitting Trump quite so easily.<\/p>

Read more Southampton sticking by manager Eckert after Spygate controversy<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump has mentioned both <\/a>Rubio and Vance as successors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have JD, obviously \u2014 the vice president is great,\u201d Trump <\/b> said last fall. \u201cMarco\u2019s great. I\u2019m not sure if anybody would run against those two. I think if they formed a group, it would be unstoppable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp shake hands with former Vice President Mike Pence in 2022. (Demetrius Freeman\/The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The anti-Trump candidate:<\/b> In a Republican primary, Trump has always had at least one opponent framing themselves as the alternative to MAGA. With Trump off the ballot (he\u2019s all but ruled out <\/a>running for an unconstitutional third term), there are a lot of options for this lane. Republican insiders mention Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who took on Trump in 2020 over election fraud lies and is deeply conservative; Nikki Haley, a former Trump administration official who was widely seen as the last non-Trump candidate left standing in 2024; Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) who recently said<\/a> he\u2019ll consider running to counter economic populism; and outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, whom Trump just helped to oust from Congress in a primary<\/a> after his push to release the Epstein files.<\/p>\n

Ted Cruz:<\/b> The Texas senator appears to be positioning himself as an alternative to Vance specifically. While Vance says all views in the party should be welcome, Cruz is advocating for his party to ostracize MAGA pundit Tucker Carlson<\/a> for interviewing a white nationalist who said Adolf Hitler is \u201ccool.\u201d \u201cEvery one of us has an obligation to stand up and say it is wrong,\u201d Cruz said. Behind closed doors, he\u2019s said<\/a> Vance\u2019s foreign policy views are dangerously isolationist.<\/p>\n

He has also criticized the Trump administration occasionally, calling its pressure campaign<\/a> to cancel late-night host Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s show \u201cdangerous as hell.”<\/p>\n

Pete Hegseth:<\/b> Trump\u2019s defense secretary has had a rough first year<\/a>: Pentagon leadership seems constantly in turmoil<\/a>, his efforts to link the military and God have drawn criticism<\/a>, and an independent watchdog said<\/a> he put troops and a mission at risk by using Signal to discuss sensitive military plans. He\u2019s a leading figure in Trump\u2019s unpopular conflict with Iran and has struck a much-less hawkish tone<\/a> toward China.<\/p>\n

However, Hegseth remains a popular figure on the far right for his unapologetic evangelicalism mixed with attacks on liberals. \u201cWe don\u2019t trust in woke,\u201d he\u2019s said. \u201cWe trust in God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ron DeSantis:<\/b> Florida\u2019s fiery, socially conservative governor ran against Trump in the 2024 primaries and remains a fixture on Fox News and at conservative events. He can tout running a big state and winning re-election by a large margin, but his term as governor ends in 2027, so he would have to build momentum for a presidential run while out of public office. He\u2019s currently pushing a proposal<\/a> to significantly lower ]\\ taxes, to the detriment of local government budgets.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump Jr.<\/b>: Trump\u2019s eldest son has never held public office, but he is an adviser and confidant to his father. He seems to be making the case that he\u2019s the rightful heir to the MAGA throne, saying<\/a> last fall of his desire to run: \u201cThat calling is there.\u201d He also just got married.<\/p>\n

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Conservative, MAGA pundit Tucker Carlson has broken with Trump. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Tucker Carlson or another media celebrity:<\/b> The former Fox News has done the unthinkable: effectively broken from Trump and kept a media following (so far). This spring Carlson said he was \u201csorry for misleading people\u201d about Trump. The Iran war seemed to be the breaking point, though there were many fissures leading up to it. \u201cI think the Iran war sets up Tucker, especially if the war goes badly, really well to run for president in \u201928,\u201d said journalist Jason Zengerle, who has written a recent biography of Carlson, in an interview with Poynter<\/a>. “He can hang that war around JD Vance\u2019s neck, around Marco Rubio\u2019s neck \u2026 And he can say: \u2018I was against this from the start. I\u2019m the true heir for MAGA.’\u201d<\/p>

Read more Park Service officials raised alarms over Trump administration\u2019s tennis center plan<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vance and Rubio top the list but there\u2019s plenty of room for an anti-Trump candidate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nRanking the 2028 Republican presidential contenders - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2446\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ranking the 2028 Republican presidential contenders - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vance and Rubio top the list but there\u2019s plenty of room for an anti-Trump candidate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2446\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T09:35:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8d00c47b4f9653c562f0d9b74d2c1291-887x1024.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"887\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2446#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2446\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Ranking the 2028 Republican presidential contenders\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T09:35:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2446\"},\"wordCount\":1320,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2446#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/687c20e2939260aa90af9383454906a7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2446#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2446\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2446\",\"name\":\"Ranking the 2028 Republican presidential contenders - 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