US Vice President J.D. Vance is considering dropping out of the 2028 presidential race after Tulsi Gabbard resigned as Director of National Intelligence, the Daily Mail reported, citing sources.
According to sources, Gabbard has been one of Vance's few allies “in containing US President Donald Trump's military ambitions“. The vice president's “soft foreign policy“ has set him on a path to confrontation with Trump, the sources said. With Vance's influence waning, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has become the dominant foreign policy voice in the US leader's inner circle.
“Rubio has more power than Vance. The president listens to him. Vance doesn't fit the big picture and has for a long time“, the newspaper quoted a White House source as saying.
It is reported that Vance's withdrawal from the upcoming elections could be a tactical move and would allow him to avoid “taking responsibility for everything that has happened over the last few years“. The newspaper notes that to win the 2032 and 2036 elections, Vance will have to maintain his political influence for nearly a decade.
On August 5, 2025, Trump named Vance as his likely successor in the November 2028 presidential election. At the same time, the American leader practically made it clear that he sees Rubio as Vance's vice presidential candidate, that is, his vice presidential candidate.