Washington DC - President Donald Trump refused to anoint either Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his official successor – but he thinks one of them has a better chance in the 2028 presidential election.

"I hadn't even thought of it, but probably, yeah, I would be inclined to; we have great people," Trump told NBC News' Tom Llamas when asked if he'll endorse someone in the upcoming Republican primaries.

"We have a great bench; we have a lot of people, but yeah, I think so."

When asked specifically about whether he'd like to see Rubio or Vance on the ticket in 2028, Trump was less willing to offer a definitive answer.

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"Well, I don't want to get into this – we have three years to go," Trump responded forcefully. "I don’t want to, you know; I have two people that are doing a great job."

"I don't want to have an argument with, or I don't want to use the word 'fight' – it wouldn't be a fight. But look, JD is fantastic, and Marco is fantastic," he said.

The Republican primaries will likely kick off in the six months after the 2026 midterms, with most expecting to see both Rubio and Vance put their hats into the ring.

The vice president has been open to the idea, saying in August that "the politics will take care of itself" if he does a good job. Rubio ran for the nomination in 2016 and is seen as a more traditional candidate.

"I would say one is slightly more diplomatic than the other," Trump went on, in a nod to Rubio. "I think there's a difference in style."

"They're both very capable. I do think this: the combination of JD and Marco would be very hard to beat, I think."