It’s still Donald Trump’s political world, but the 2028 GOP presidential hopefuls are starting to mix it up. No one dares cross the grand master, Trump, but they are beginning to curry favor with his supporters within the party. And while the gloves aren’t off yet, it doesn’t mean there isn’t aggressive jockeying for position in the race. All the while, our current president is holding out faint hope for an unconstitutional third term.

And ever the game player he is, Mr. Trump has not yet anointed a successor, lest he lose opportunities for the GOP hopefuls to continue to worship at his throne and lovingly sing his praises. But the elbows are out, and last weekend’s Turning Point USA Convention gave vice-president JD Vance the stage to start making his case. This was much to the chagrin of his most visible rival, secretary of state Marco Rubio. Suffice it to say, there is no love lost between these two.

JD Vance Starts His Bid for 2028

Before Vance took to the podium at the 2025 Turning Point USA AmericaFest convention last weekend, he received an endorsement for his possible 2008 presidential bid from Erika Kirk, it’s CEO and wife of its recently murdered CEO and founder, Charlie Kirk. Taken with another onstage kiss he received at an earlier event from Erika, it demonstrates strong support for Vance and his eventual campaign for the 2028 GOP Presidential nomination from one of the leading conservative organizations.

All that left Rubio, back at the White House, stewing, searching for his moment in the sun. He and Vance strike an interesting pose among the GOP hopefuls. They were both, at one point, decidedly anti-Trump, until the MAGA tidal wave swept them into the fold. Who could forget the 2016 GOP Presidential debates, where Trump continually called Rubio, “Little Marco?”

Or the time in 2016 when Vance answered an interview question from Charlie Rose about his thoughts on Donald Trump. Vance replied, “I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy.” But political headwinds, fear of retribution from Trump, and, in Vance’s case, Silicon Valley’s capitulation to the MAGA side reshaped their views of the president

The State of the Race

What is the status of the other 2028 GOP hopefuls at this stage of the game? It seems like ages ago when Florida governor Ron DeSantis was an early favorite for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. DeSantis, who finished a distant third in the Turning Point USA convention straw poll, still has scars from his last presidential campaign, which was an ill-fated, error-filled affair from the start, with its botched X platform launch. Another strike against him: As people used to say about Mitt Romney, “the more you know him, the more you don’t like him.”

Texas Senator Ted Cruz? It feels like the time has passed for The Frog (my wife’s nickname for him) to be taken seriously as a national candidate. Kristi Noem? Our Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has not fared well politically this year.

From her Gucci watch-wearing trip to an El Salvadoran prison, to her department’s shamefully slow response to the devastating Texas floods, and lastly, her ever-changing Mar-a-Lago looks have made her a joke on the national scene. Donald Trump Jr.? He makes the list solely based on his last name, but his reported reliance on an unnamed drug (Adderall) makes him an almost comical choice.

Dissension in the GOP Ranks

But now a new schism has developed within the GOP ranks. One that could not have been envisioned even six months ago. Multiple staff members have exited the conservative sacred cow, The Heritage Foundation, in the last couple of months over its president’s support of Tucker Carlson’s interview with holocaust denier Nick Fuentes in October. And many of those folks have found new positions at former vice president Mike Pence’s nonprofit, Advancing American Freedom.

Now, Pence does not possess the juice or appeal to be considered a candidate for 2028. But what it does demonstrate is the multiple divides that are starting to rip the GOP apart. Issues like the release of the Epstein files, the debate over extending the expiring Affordable Care Act’s subsidies, and unease about the administration’s actions against Venezuela in the Caribbean and the East Pacific Ocean.

With GOP House retirement announcements climbing and talk about President Trump’s mental acuity increasing, the waters get choppier every day for anyone in the party who is contemplating a 2028 run for the presidency.