Ari Emanuel said he recently spoke by phone with President Donald Trump and that Trump touted a potential 2028 ticket pairing Vice President JD Vance with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Emanuel made the remarks while promoting his memoir Roll the Calls at New York's 92Y during a conversation with Rachel Maddow. Emanuel argued that Trump's praising other candidates does not necessarily signal an intent to remain in office indefinitely, though Trump has joked about a third term while noting legal limits under the 22nd Amendment.
Ari Emanuel Says Trump Praised a Vance–Rubio 2028 Ticket in Recent Call — What It Suggests About Trump’s Plans
Screenshot via CBS
Hollywood agent and WME CEO Ari Emanuel told an audience at New York's 92Y that he spoke by phone with President Donald Trump about possible Republican contenders for 2028. Emanuel made the remarks while promoting his memoir, Roll the Calls, and discussing his relationships with political figures during a conversation with Rachel Maddow.
During the event, Maddow said she did not "believe" Trump would voluntarily leave office after his current term, a point Emanuel pushed back on by recalling how critics once warned about Richard Nixon. When the exchange drew resistance from the audience and Maddow, Emanuel shot back, jokingly telling them to "shut the f*ck up, stop."
Emanuel said he had spoken with Trump about three weeks earlier. According to Emanuel, the president was enthusiastic about the idea of Vice President JD Vance teaming up with Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a 2028 ticket. "He thought JD and Marco Rubio would be a formidable group," Emanuel said.
The agent argued that praising or speculating about future candidates does not read like the behavior of someone intent on clinging to power indefinitely. Still, Trump has publicly joked about the idea of a third term and marketed related merchandise, while also acknowledging legal constraints on serving more than two terms under the U.S. Constitution's 22nd Amendment.
"Everybody asks me that question. And you know that the law is very strong on that. I'd love to run, but the law is very strong," Trump told reporters last month.
Those details were shared by Emanuel at the 92Y event and reported by outlets including The Hollywood Reporter and Mediaite. Emanuel's comments add a personal glimpse into how Trump and his circle discuss potential successors and strategy for 2028.
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