MAGA already looking to anoint Vance for 2028

Just eight months after President Trump picked JD Vance to be his vice president, Vance is already positioned to be MAGA's heir apparent for 2028.

Many of Trump's longest-serving aides and most fervent supporters now see the vice president as the vehicle to lock in Trump's worldview for at least the next decade

In their view, Trump broke the old Republican Party — and Vance can finish building the new one.

Vance has won over Trump's base with combative public performances, by savvily managing relationships with Trump's team, and by showing unwavering fealty to Trump's vision.

A person close to Donald Trump Jr. — who has been a key Vance validator going back to Vance's 2022 Senate race in Ohio — told Axios the president's son is "over the moon with JD's performance so far, and feels completely vindicated for spending his political capital last summer pushing his dad to pick Vance as vice president." Vance has also impressed financial moguls in Trump's orbit.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, Vance easily won a straw poll of potential 2028 GOP nominees with 61%. Steve Bannon — an official in Trump's first White House, who now presides over the powerful "War Room" podcast — came in a distant second with 12%.

Even some Vance boosters concede he doesn't have the showmanship that made Trump a reality TV star and political phenomenon.