{"id":899,"date":"2026-07-06T16:06:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=899"},"modified":"2026-07-06T16:06:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:06:55","slug":"vances-hot-summer-positions-to-be-trumps-heir-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=899","title":{"rendered":"Vance&#039;s hot summer positions to be Trump&#039;s heir \u2014 for now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/3zJ49TLENEnkYQC9MQUEaySnvP8=\/0x0:1920x1080\/1366x768\/2026\/06\/30\/1782850055791.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/06\/30\/trump-rubio-vance-iran-deal\" target=\"_blank\">JD Vance<\/a>&#8216;s summer: The vice president penned a bestselling book, helped broker a tentative peace deal with Iran, embarked on a media blitz and \u2014 most importantly for him \u2014 impressed the man in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> Vance&#8217;s performances on TV, in polls and on the global chessboard underscore how \u2014 at least at this moment \u2014 the VP looks like President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/politics-policy\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Trump<\/a>&#8216;s undisputed political heir if he runs in 2028.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;JD is earning it, and Trump sees it,&#8221; a senior Trump adviser said, adding that Secretary of State Marco Rubio \u2014 the other top Trump aide seen as a potential heir \u2014 &#8220;wasn&#8217;t planning to run anyway, and he&#8217;d be even less likely to do so now.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Inside the room:<\/strong> For months, Trump has compared and almost pitted Vance and Rubio against one another, asking advisers whom they&#8217;d prefer at the top of a 2028 ticket. That <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/02\/22\/vance-rubio-2028-trump-question\" target=\"_blank\">parlor game<\/a> is now on hold.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;POTUS isn&#8217;t asking, &#8216;JD or Marco?&#8217; anymore,&#8221; said one insider. &#8220;He&#8217;s no longer asking, &#8216;How&#8217;s JD doing?&#8217; He&#8217;s now saying, &#8216;JD looks great, right?'&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom in:<\/strong> The inflection point for Vance came in mid-June, when he and presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff helped broker the memorandum of understanding with Iran, a step toward ending the war.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The day before, June 16, Vance&#8217;s new book, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harpercollins.com\/products\/communion-j-d-vance?variant=45116963192866\" target=\"_blank\">Communion<\/a>: Finding My Way Back to Faith,&#8221; was published.<\/li>\n<li>Vance, already scheduled to go on a book tour, benefited from the breaking-news attention on his role in the peace talks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>By the numbers:<\/strong> Vance gave a total of 33 interviews in June, from conservative podcasts to a White House press briefing to gaggles with reporters to sit-downs with Bill Maher on HBO and the liberal daytime talk show &#8220;The View&#8221; on ABC, according to Vance&#8217;s office.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;The president doesn&#8217;t watch &#8216;The View.&#8217; But he saw the clips and loved what he saw,&#8221; one of Trump&#8217;s advisers said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Meanwhile,<\/strong> Vance has hit the fundraising circuit for the Republican National Committee and has accounted for about $70 million in contributions, a crucial network he would tap if he runs for president.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Vance&#8217;s favorability numbers among all Americans are <a href=\"https:\/\/navigatorresearch.org\/what-americans-think-about-vp-vance\/\" target=\"_blank\">underwater<\/a>, roughly equal to Trump&#8217;s.  <\/li>\n<li>But among Republicans, his net favorability rating is 62%, just shy of Trump&#8217;s 65% and well above Rubio&#8217;s 51%, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/navigatorresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Navigator-Update-06.16.2026.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">polling<\/a> released last month by Navigator Research, a Democrat-aligned firm.<\/li>\n<li>Vance also leads other potential GOP rivals in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/new-poll-shows-jd-vance-ahead-of-potential-2028-candidates-by-double-digits-12152822\" target=\"_blank\">national<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wmur.com\/article\/poll-presidential-candidates-new-hampshire-63026\/71786435\" target=\"_blank\">early state<\/a> polls.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The intrigue:<\/strong> Though Trump is pleased with Vance at the moment, the president isn&#8217;t too happy with a top veep ally \u2014 commentator Tucker Carlson, who&#8217;s become increasingly critical of the president.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;So far, Tucker isn&#8217;t a problem. But it could be if Trump tells JD to distance himself from him,&#8221; another adviser to Trump said.<\/li>\n<li>Vance&#8217;s role in signing the Iran deal and his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/vance-criticizes-israel-freakout-over-iran-deal-new-york-times-interview-2026-06-18\/\" target=\"_blank\">criticisms of right-wing Israeli politicians<\/a> have upset pro-Israel conservatives who want Rubio to run against him \u2014 which is unlikely, in part because the men are friends and allies.<\/li>\n<li>Domestically, Vance&#8217;s economic views about the role of government in business were <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DavidMMcintosh\/status\/2073598937127112784\" target=\"_blank\">criticized<\/a> Saturday by the head of the conservative Club for Growth for not being sufficiently supportive of free markets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Rubio has made it clear<\/strong> he has no desire to wage a primary campaign for president. One sign Rubio means it: He doesn&#8217;t have the infrastructure for a possible campaign that Vance does, namely a stable of political consultants and insiders who are ready to work on his behalf.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Marco doesn&#8217;t have pipe hitters. Vance does,&#8221; said one Rubio ally. &#8220;JD&#8217;s looking good. And everyone in the administration knows it.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is JD Vance&#8216;s summer: The vice president penned a bestselling book, helped broker a tentative peace deal with Iran, embarked on a media blitz and \u2014 most importantly for him \u2014 impressed the man in the Oval Office. Why it matters: Vance&#8217;s performances on TV, in polls and on the global chessboard underscore how&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/3zJ49TLENEnkYQC9MQUEaySnvP8=\/0x0:1920x1080\/1366x768\/2026\/06\/30\/1782850055791.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}