President Donald Trump declined on Tuesday to commit to endorsing Vice President JD Vance for the 2028 presidential election, saying it was too early to discuss while the midterm elections are still ahead.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office during an event announcing a new whistleblower reward program, Trump was asked about Vance's comment a day earlier that he expected the president's backing if he ran. With Vance standing behind him, Trump called him "a very talented person" and "a very good person," but said the two had never discussed it.
"It's early, very early right now. We have to get through the midterms. We'll see how it goes," Trump said.
The question followed an interview Vance gave to journalist Mark Halperin, in which he said he had not decided whether to run in 2028. Vance said he believed Trump would endorse him if he did, though perhaps not right away. He added that there is something to be said for candidates running their own race.
In the same interview, Vance declined to endorse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israel's October 27 election, saying he was focused on the midterms, PBS reported.
Vance has been seen as the most Netanyahu-skeptical voice in Trump's inner circle during the war with Iran. The two met in Washington in July to address their differences, after Vance accused Netanyahu of stoking opposition to the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding and of being insufficiently loyal to Trump, according to Axios.
Trump, by contrast, endorsed Netanyahu on Sunday, after months of declining to take sides. In a Truth Social post, he called Netanyahu “a Great Warrior Prime Minister” and gave him his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in the race for reelection. Trump also warned that if Israel chooses “the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi,” America would have to finish the job against Iran itself, and that he is not inclined to do so.
This is not the first time Trump has held back on Vance. In February 2025, asked by Fox News' Bret Baier whether he saw Vance as his successor, Trump replied, "No, but he's very capable." In August 2025, he told reporters Vance was "most likely" the heir to the MAGA movement. Vance leads early polling for the 2028 Republican nomination.
