President Donald Trump can’t stop bragging about Marco Rubio. He has said Rubio could go down “as the greatest Secretary of State in the history of our country,” described him as the man he turns to whenever he has a problem and said that “everyone [has] fallen in love” with him.

“He’s a master,” Trump said last month. “He’s an unbelievable man, really amazing.”

Rubio has become a star in the MAGA orbit as an affable explainer and executor of Trump’s foreign policy. As his titles within the administration have piled up, so too have viral memes casting the Florida-born former senator in every role from president of Venezuela to shah of Iran to the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, and they have cemented his image as the happy warrior in Trump’s inner circle.

For all the public praise, though, Trump has privately told donors that the Republican Party needs to elevate Vice President JD Vance as his successor. It’s an awkward backdrop for one of the biggest decisions of Rubio’s career. In the coming months, he will have to decide whether to make another run for the GOP presidential nomination — which would, in all likelihood, mean taking on Vance in the contest to carry on Trump’s MAGA mantle.

Some of Rubio’s recent moves could telegraph a future run. Last week in Athens, he gave a speech against the grandiose backdrop of the Acropolis, putting his own stamp on “America First.” He has stepped up his television appearances in recent months, and a star turn in the White House briefing room earlier this year set off a round of presidential speculation. His dual roles as national security adviser and secretary of state also burnish his credentials as a potential commander in chief.

But there are other signs he will sit 2028 out. So far, Rubio hasn’t been particularly responsive to his donor or political network, according to two people familiar with the matter, who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. He has made clear to people who have spoken with him that he doesn’t want to run against Vance, who has made little secret of his own ambitions, according to the people familiar.

Some who know Rubio say he may be tempted to cash in instead. After more than two decades in public office, he has little financial cushion compared with some of his would-be rivals.

He may also be content where he is. The two jobs he holds are his dream jobs, one former Rubio aide said — a factor that could keep him out of the 2028 race if he feels he has more work to do.

“There is no indication he wants to leave the administration,” a White House official said. “That may change or he may end up doing it, but the indication I get is that he’s very happy doing what he’s doing.”

The State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Early polling gives Rubio some reason to think about a run. While Vance leads early Republican primary polls, his edge is narrowing. A Financial Times/Focaldata poll from earlier this month shows Rubio trailing Vance 14 points among likely primary voters, 38% to 24%, one of Rubio’s strongest showings in recent matchups.

Donald Trump Jr., who has ruled out a 2028 run and is one of Vance’s most high-profile backers, has also shown strength in early surveys — occasionally besting Rubio. At the Republican National Committee midterm convention in Dallas, which Rubio skipped, Trump Jr. cast himself as a messenger for his father’s movement and framed the midterms as a choice between “common sense” and “extremism.”

All of the early leading contenders are firmly in Trump’s orbit. But some Republicans outside it, like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, are betting that the likelihood of a bleak midterm election for the GOP will create space for candidates who aren’t.

“If we do a lot of losing … I wonder whether we’re going to say, ‘OK, we need to change this approach,’” Christie said at an event in New Hampshire last month.

Vance, the first sitting vice president to serve as RNC finance chair, has used the role to deepen his longstanding Silicon Valley ties ahead of an expected 2028 run. If Rubio runs, he would be expected to lean on the network he cultivated during his previous presidential campaign and past Senate races. Several billionaires helped bankroll him in 2016, including his longtime patron, Miami auto dealer Norman Braman; Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison; Citadel founder Ken Griffin; and fund manager Paul Singer.

For now, Rubio has his hands full with his day jobs. In addition to making him secretary of state and national security adviser, Trump has also named Rubio acting USAID administrator and acting archivist — posts he has since given up. At a 2025 Cabinet meeting, Rubio joked that that year’s Labor Day was “the most meaningful” of his life “as someone with four jobs.”

As secretary of state, Rubio has focused largely on the Western Hemisphere, particularly Cuba and Venezuela. Though he has had some influence over Europe, the Middle East and Asia, he has been comfortable letting Vance, Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent play significant parts there.

That has allowed Rubio to steer clear of some of the administration’s biggest foreign policy minefields, including the Iran war and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Vance has thrust himself into the middle of both, confronting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last year and traveling to Pakistan for negotiations with Iran that ultimately failed. (The viral image of Rubio seemingly trying to sink into an Oval Office couch is from the heated Zelenskyy meeting.)

Vance has done more of the groundwork for a campaign so far. But people around the White House said Rubio’s more natural charisma could give him an edge.

“Most of MAGA world is incredibly nerdy so Trump appreciates having the cool kid in the room,” a person close to Rubio said.

While Rubio and Vance routinely bat away speculation about their political futures, much of it comes from Trump himself, who seems to delight in the competition among two of his closest aides.

In a June podcast interview, Trump said he watches both Vance and Rubio closely and studies them “as they’re with each other.”

“I find it very interesting,” he said.

Trump has told donors that the Republican party needs to elect Vance as his successor, though when asked last month whether he would endorse him, Trump stopped short.

“I just think they’re all very good, but JD is fantastic,” the president said in Ireland last month.

Trump hasn’t surveyed his companions recently about whether Vance or Rubio should be the nominee, the White House official said.

“He’s mentioned the JD-Marco ticket being a ‘super ticket’ as recently as in the past few weeks … but [Trump] really hasn’t talked about 2028 too often,” the White House official said.

The 2028 election season will ramp up after the midterms, but Rubio has time. Aides and political strategists said he would likely have to decide by next summer at the latest. Until then, he is keeping his cards close.

“Nobody knows what he is going to do except Marco Rubio,” a person close to Rubio said.

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