As Trump fuels Vance vs. Rubio speculation, his vice president makes anti-fraud push

By Kit Maher, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump hosting a televised competition to choose his successor?

Doesn’t sound like him, joked Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday, days after his boss polled a Rose Garden audience on whether Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio should head the 2028 presidential ticket.

Unlike Trump, neither man is talking about their future political ambitions, instead letting their public profiles and actions speak for themselves. And Vance — who compared himself to the kid in “Home Alone,” with both Trump and Rubio in China this week — had the White House campus to himself on Wednesday for an event on fraud.

He announced several new efforts to combat fraud in federal healthcare programs — including one targeting California, whose Democratic governor, himself a 2028 hopeful, is a frequent sparring partner for the administration. But Vance also took reporters’ questions on Iran and cracked a few jokes.

“Well, I just don’t think it sounds like the president of the United States to have a televised competition for who would succeed him as his apprentice,” Vance deadpanned when pressed by CNN on why Trump seems to enjoy pitting him and Rubio against each other.

The president on Monday asked attendees at a Rose Garden dinner to cheer for their preference.

“Who’s it gonna be? Is it gonna be JD? Is it gonna be somebody else? I don’t know,” he said.

And while the audience appeared to clap a little louder for Vance, who attended the event, Trump didn’t cast a vote, instead referring to the pair as the “dream team” and “perfect ticket.”

Vance insisted Wednesday he’s focused on doing his work and that Americans would be put off if he spent energy angling for the top job right now.

“I love Marco. I think he’s a great secretary of state. He’s become a very, very dear friend, but I think both of us are very much focused on accomplishing the American people’s business right now,” he said.

But the 2028 speculation — fanned by Trump’s public comments — is only building as Vance and Rubio, who held his own press briefing at the White House last week, take turns seizing the spotlight.

Vance, who walked out to the podium hours after Trump and Rubio arrived in Beijing, explained why he’s on the home front this week focused on leading the administration’s task force combatting fraud, a job Trump tasked him with earlier this year.

“The president just landed in China a few hours ago,” Vance said, noting how Secret Service protocols require him to stay stateside when Trump is overseas. “On days – today – I sometimes feel like Macaulay Culkin in ‘Home Alone.’ I walk into the White House and it’s very quiet and no one’s there.”

Appearing alongside Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Vance pushed back on criticism that the administration’s anti-fraud efforts are political in nature.

“If you have a crooked governor, they’re not going to work with us, and we’re going to have to use other tools to ensure that they do,” Vance said. “But I think that there are a lot of governors, Democrat and Republican, who recognize that this is a very serious problem.”

The vice president will take his anti-fraud message on the road on Thursday, when he appears in Bangor, Maine — home to one of the most competitive Senate races in November’s midterms. He said he’ll also campaign with former Gov. Paul LePage, who’s running for a US House district that the GOP has high hopes of flipping this year.

Vance has consistently traveled domestically as vice president, visiting states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina to be Trump’s messenger on what the administration sees as its policy wins. He has fundraised as Republican National Committee finance chair and talked to young conservatives at Turning Point USA events.

But on the same day Vance was in Iowa last week, stumping for a Republican congressman, Rubio was holding court in Washington as the first Cabinet secretary to fill in for press secretary Karoline Leavitt during her maternity leave. His team capitalized on a moment when he was asked about his hope for America by crafting a campaign-like video that sent the 2028 rumor mill spinning.

It came during an eventful stretch for the secretary of state, who also visited Pope Leo XIV last week and added another role to his resume: wedding DJ, according to video on social media.

Vance has previously appeared at the White House briefing room podium and is expected to return in Leavitt’s absence, according to a White House official.

And on Wednesday, he took questions from the press on a range of topics, including the looming foreign policy questions of the day.

Vance — who was dispatched to Pakistan for talks with the Iranians last month — noted how he was on the phone earlier in the day with envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner talking about the state of negotiations to end the war.

He was also asked to explain Trump’s comment on Tuesday that he’s not motivated by Americans’ financial situation when he’s pushing for a deal with Iran.

Vance defended Trump, arguing his remark had been taken out of context, before adding that the administration does care.

“Of course, the president and I and the entire team, we care about the American people’s financial situations.”

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