The Morning Briefing: The GOP Has an Embarrassment of Riches for 2028

Top O' the Briefing

Happy Tuesday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Esquetorr felt that the craft cocktails craze officially jumped the shark when he was offered a "Raisinetstini."

We certainly have had a lot of fun here at the Briefing mocking the Democrats' prospects for the 2028 presidential race. The rumored group of prospects at present is a parade of progressive doofuses that invites constant ridicule. When Great White Hope Gavin Newsom is leading the youth and diversity pack, a party has got problems. I almost laugh out loud sometimes, thinking about things falling apart so much over there that Kamala Harris becomes a serious part of the conversation.

Who knows? Maybe the Democrats will finally "Feel the Bern" all the way.

On the Republican side, things are a little sunnier inside the 2028 crystal ball. Unlike their Democratic counterparts, the Republicans have a deep bench that features some serious grown-ups. There are potential candidates who do more than while away the hours basking in the glow of sycophantic social media approval.

While the GOP talent pool runs deep, there are two real standouts when it comes to the 2028 conversation — Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Yes, those two constitute an embarrassment of riches when compared to the Democrats. Sarah wrote an interesting column yesterday that examined the pros and cons of each as the potential 2028 nominee, according to some close supporters of President Trump:

According to NBC, Trump has been polling his pals and donors at Mar-a-Lago dinners in recent weeks, and they have pretty strong opinions about who they want to see as the nominee.
On the night before the conflict in Iran began, Trump was actually hosting a dinner at his home base in Florida "with a group of roughly 25 GOP donors, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and billionaire Georgia gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson."
Trump asked the crowd who he should support in 2028, and according to someone who was there, the crowd shouted "Rubio" and cheered almost unanimously. However, another person in attendance told NBC that the room was more evenly split. (And these are not named sources, so, as usual, take that with a grain of salt...)

Sarah goes on to note that NBC reported that another Trump insider said that Trump's Mar-a-Lago besties aren't — or weren't, anyway — big Vance supporters. It seems difficult to remember now, but Vance wasn't always on the Trump Train. The big money people who have been around Trump the longest probably still chafe at that. It's also quite natural that some of the Florida heavy-hitters would be Rubio fans.

Some of the concerns Sarah mentions that Republicans may have about Vance vs. Rubio for the 2028 sweepstakes are easily dismissed, at least as far as I'm concerned. The first is Vance's relative inexperience on the political scene. Sure, he had only been a United States senator for a couple of years when he became Trump's Veep, but the crucible of this past year should count for quadruple the experience.

There are also some misgivings about Rubio's bumbling presidential run in 2016, which I don't think matters much at all. That's just a learning experience. Also, the GOP candidates in 2016 all seemed to be flailing in Trump's shadow then. Rubio has managed to move past what few career hiccups he's had quite well.

Sarah is right; Rubio is almost perfect where he is right now. It's also difficult to imagine a scenario where Vance isn't the nominee in 2028. As we always have to say when speculating, however, a lot can change between now and then.

It's a bit strange that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's name doesn't come up in these 2028 chats very often. Most Floridians I know didn't want him to run in 2024 because they loved what he was doing as governor. They figured he would get another, much better shot after President Trump's time on the political stage had passed. It was sound thinking at the time.

The Republicans are in good shape for 2028 right now. If the SAVE Act doesn't get passed, however, the Democrats will continue to expand their "election irregularities" efforts, and all bets are off.

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POTUS Press Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
03/09/26

DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2026

In-Town Pool
TV Corr & Crew: CNN
Secondary TV Corr: PBS
Photos: AP, AFP, NYT, Reuters, Getty
Print: National Journal
Secondary Print: The Atlantic
Radio: NPR
New Media: Timcast

EDT:
9:00 AM In-Town Pool Call Time

8:00 AM THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time
The White House
Closed Press

3:00 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting
Oval Office
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4:30 PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting
Oval Office
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