J.D. Vance Unsure Whether Donald Trump Would Endorse Him for President in 2028: 'I Don't Know, Man'

During an interview broadcast on Monday, October 19, on the 2WAY platform, Vice President J.D. Vance said he wasn't sure whether President Donald Trump would immediately endorse him for a 2028 presidential bid.

Speaking with journalist Mark Halperin, Vance initially said he believed Trump would endorse him right away if he ran.

“That’s the person they say, ‘Okay, if Trump is with a guy, that must mean that the elites are against that guy,” the vice president continued. “I think that Trump’s endorsement just carries more weight than any political endorsement in history because of that. Obviously, the voters are gonna decide. Donald Trump is only one vote of many, but I think his endorsement is still the most powerful. I think if I run, the president will endorse me.”

However, when pressed further on whether that backing would be automatic or immediate, Vance walked back the certainty, confessing, “I would think so, but I don’t know, man.”

Vance clarified that he hasn't yet had a direct conversation with Trump about a potential 2028 run.

“It’d be kinda weird if you said to him, ‘Mr. President, I’m gonna run,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, let me think about it,'” Halperin added.

“No, I don’t think it’d be weird,” Vance retorted. “Again, I think I would get his endorsement, but I also think there’s something to be said for people actually running their own race, and because the president’s endorsement is so dispositive, you could absolutely see a scenario where the president says, ‘You know what? We need to let, like, this race play out and not, like, preemptively prejudge the results.'”

“You might be horrible at it,” Halperin told Vance, who has had historically low approval ratings.

“I might be terrible at it,” the vice president agreed. “So, I don’t know. Again, having never spoken to the president about this, I can’t speak to his psychology on it, but my attitude is that if I run, I think the president would endorse me, but I also haven’t talked to him about it yet.”

Vance said he hasn't officially decided whether he will run in the 2028 presidential election and is currently focused on helping Republicans in the upcoming November midterm elections.

The 42-year-old' comments aren’t unsolicited. In late mid-2026, Trump declined to offer an immediate endorsement for Vance's potential 2028 bid, telling reporters that while he thinks Vance is "fantastic" and "great," it is "way too early" to consider backing anyone for the next presidential cycle.