JD Vance embraces tricky role as Trump’s midterm messenger — and potential successor

Behind closed doors on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance urged a room full of Republicans to sell voters on the administration’s more popular achievements that he worried weren’t always breaking through.

One person, however, has proved particularly difficult to keep on message: President Donald Trump.

Since joining Trump’s ticket in 2024, Vance has taken on the role of disciplined translator for a president whose instinct-driven improvisational style enthralls his admirers but often pulls attention from the message his advisers want voters to hear. Now, with control of Congress at stake in November , that role has taken new urgency. Vance is expected to aggressively campaign for Republican candidates — “divide and conquer” with Trump, as one source close to him put it — as the two carve up the midterm map.

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The stakes for both Vance and the Republican Party will stretch beyond November, as he weighs his own future as the president’s likeliest political heir.

Vance offered a telling example of his approach Thursday at an event outside Trump’s two-day midterm convention in Dallas. According to audio obtained by CNN, Vance told convention attendees from his home state of Ohio and the battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that TrumpRx — a website for Americans to search for prescription drug discounts — was “the single issue that has the most broad, popular appeal.”

“You see this in every poll that we’ve ever seen,” Vance said.

Yet, Trump waited until the second hour of his midterm convention speech Wednesday to mention the initiative — and even then did not namecheck the program that bears his surname.

Vance had his own turn before the party faithful Thursday, headlining night two of the Republican Party’s midterm convention (before Trump returned to the stage to close out the gathering). There, Vance playfully batted away chants of “JD! 48!” — a reference to the hope that he will succeed the 47th president — as premature, while sidestepping the topics that animated Trump’s own remarks, like his surprise pledge to cut Americans $5,000 checks if his party holds power, the Iran war and tariffs.

Instead, he laid out a vision for Trump’s America First movement focused on families and forgotten Americans that could serve as a platform for a presidential campaign. He also urged Republicans not to let differences divide them to the benefit of Democrats, as he continues a months-long push to keep Trump’s fragile coalition together for the midterm elections and beyond.

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“Don’t give the country over to a bunch of crazy people because you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue here or there,” he said.

The appearance served as a preview of how Vance intends to approach the final two months before Election Day. He’ll be deployed on the trail in a similar fashion as 2024, when the campaign leaned into his relative youth and blue-collar roots to connect with young people, especially men, and Rust Belt workers.

The vice president has said he will wait until after the midterms to decide whether to run for president in 2028.

Tyler Bowyer, the chief operating officer at Turning Point Action, told CNN that he expects the outcome of the midterm elections “matters a whole lot” in Vance’s calculus. Turning Point, a conservative organization founded by the assassinated activist Charlie Kirk, has endorsed Vance and is seen as a political operation in waiting for him if he wants it.

“If I was the vice president, I would want to see what the outcomes look like from November,” Bowyer said. “Some of that you can control as the administration. Some of it you can’t.”

Already Vance is increasingly behaving like a politician with higher aspirations. He published his second book this summer on his Catholic faith and engaged in an extensive publicity tour that included sit-downs with “The View,” conservative influencers and Christian media.

He is traveling, endorsing, and podcasting. He also moonlights as his party’s finance chair, a role that conveniently puts him in front of GOP’s deep-pocketed donors.

Inside the convention at the American Airlines Center, there was widespread recognition that Vance is the leading contender to become the party’s 2028 nominee. Some are eager for Trump to declare it out loud.

“He truly gets the MAGA movement and all the parts of it,” said AK Kamara, a Republican National Committeeman from Minnesota. “He’s almost like the next iteration of what MAGA truly should be, which is, ‘we have to be focused on America first.’”

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images/File

But mention Vance and 2028 to Trump’s supporters and another name often surfaces, sometimes unprompted: Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Though Rubio has publicly said he would support Vance if he runs, plenty of conservatives still view him as a shrewd, competent operator in Trump’s Washington with presidential potential.

“I really favor somebody that’s doing 12 jobs for the price of one,” said Deanna Mclaughlin, who works in a Tennessee congressional office.

Republicans are also divided on how much say Trump should have in choosing who carries his movement forward. While McLaughlin said “the people need to decide,” Rusat Ramgopal, executive director for the Queens County, New York, GOP said he hoped Trump, Rubio and Vance would work out the party’s future together.

“It would be more beneficial to the party to not have the two biggest names duking it out in a primary,” he said. “I think a unified ticket with those two, the biggest names in the party, will be a winning ticket in 2028.”

In the near term, Vance remains one of Trump’s closest advisers and most ardent public defenders, even as the White House navigates a Middle East war that the vice president had privately expressed reservations about from the start.

But in recent months, Vance has seized on his assignment to head an anti-fraud task force as an opportunity to carve out a more distinctive message in speeches around the country — as well as use the frequent travel to deepen ties with the GOP donors and party officials he’ll need if he opts to run in 2028.

During those appearances, Vance has struck a more accommodating tone on the economy, eschewing Trump’s blanket dismissals of voters’ affordability concerns in favor of rhetoric that acknowledges Americans’ frustration while simultaneously urging them to stay the course. Vance notably has expressed far more sympathy for voters’ worries about data centers than Trump has.

Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

The domestic tour has also allowed him to raise his public profile through focusing on anti-fraud issues that play well across the Republican Party, GOP operatives noted — rather than subjecting him to constant questions about the war in Iran.

“He connects uniquely,” one Trump ally said of Vance. “He’s a very approachable guy and appealing to a very important demographic in the Trump coalition.”

Yet while Trump has continued to praise Vance in public and private, there’s little expectation that the president will move any time soon to clear the 2028 field for him. Vance and his team will not only have to determine his path forward, but navigate Trump’s own desire to cling to the spotlight as long as possible.

It was notable that Vance spoke on the final day of the two-night convention — and also that Trump appeared again right after him to close out the event.

“They can’t move before the midterms,” Curt Mills, executive director of “The American Conservative” and a Vance ally, said of his turn on the national stage. “The question is, is it a November decision, a February decision or a spring decision?”

CNN’s Adam Cancryn and Kit Maher contributed to this report.

周四，副总统 JD Vance 在闭门会议上敦促满屋子的共和党人向选民推销政府更受欢迎的成就，他担心这些成就并不总是能被选民所接受。

然而，有一个人却特别难以让他坚持自己的立场：那就是唐纳德·特朗普总统。

自2024年加入特朗普竞选团队以来，万斯一直扮演着一位严谨的翻译角色，为这位总统服务。特朗普凭借直觉和即兴发挥的风格吸引了众多拥趸，但也常常使选民忽略了其顾问希望传达的信息。如今，随着11月国会控制权的争夺战愈演愈烈，这一角色显得尤为重要。预计万斯将积极为共和党候选人助选——正如一位接近他的消息人士所说，他将与特朗普“分而治之”——两人将共同瓜分中期选举的版图。

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对于万斯和共和党而言，这场选举的利害关系将持续到11月之后，因为他正在权衡自己作为总统最有可能的政治继承人的未来。

周四，在达拉斯举行的特朗普为期两天的中期选举大会外的一次活动中，万斯生动地展现了他的策略。据CNN获得的录音显示，万斯告诉来自他的家乡俄亥俄州以及密歇根州、宾夕法尼亚州和威斯康星州等关键州的与会者，TrumpRx——一个供美国人搜索处方药折扣的网站——是“最具广泛、最受民众欢迎的单一议题”。

“在以往的每一项民意调查中，你都能看到这种情况，”万斯说。

然而，特朗普直到周三中期选举大会演讲的第二个小时才提到这项倡议——即便如此，他也没有提及以他姓氏命名的这项计划。

周四晚，万斯在共和党中期选举大会第二晚的活动中发表了讲话（之后特朗普再次登台为大会画上句号）。在讲话中，万斯略带玩笑地回应了“JD！48！”的呼声——这是希望他能接替第47任总统的呼声——认为这种呼声为时尚早。同时，他也回避了特朗普讲话中反复提及的话题，例如他出人意料地承诺，如果共和党继续执政，将向美国民众发放5000美元支票、伊朗战争以及关税问题。

相反，他阐述了特朗普“美国优先”运动的愿景，该运动以家庭和被遗忘的美国民众为中心，可以作为总统竞选的纲领。他还敦促共和党人不要让分歧分裂，从而让民主党人从中获利。与此同时，他正持续数月努力，力图在期中选举及以后的选举中维系特朗普脆弱的联盟。

Patrick T. Fallon/法新社/盖蒂图片社

他说：“不要因为你们在某些政策问题上与我们意见相左，就把国家拱手让给一群疯子。”

这次露面预示着万斯将如何应对大选前最后两个月的竞选策略。他将以与2024年类似的方式投入竞选活动，当时他的竞选团队充分利用他相对年轻的身份和蓝领出身，以此来拉近与年轻人，尤其是男性选民以及“铁锈地带”工人的距离。

副总统表示，他将等到中期选举之后再决定是否参加2028年总统竞选。

“转折点行动”（Turning Point Action）首席运营官泰勒·鲍耶告诉CNN，他预计中期选举的结果对万斯的考量“至关重要”。“转折点行动”是由遇刺身亡的活动家查理·柯克创立的保守派组织，该组织已公开支持万斯，并被视为万斯随时准备为其效力的政治力量。

“如果我是副总统，我会想看看11月份的选举结果如何，”鲍耶说。“有些结果政府可以控制，有些则不能。”

范斯如今的行为越来越像一位志向远大的政治家。今年夏天，他出版了第二本关于天主教信仰的书，并进行了广泛的宣传巡回，其中包括接受《观点》节目、保守派意见领袖和基督教媒体的专访。

他四处奔走，为各种活动站台，还录制播客节目。此外，他还兼任所在政党的财务主席，这个职位让他能够方便地接触到共和党财力雄厚的捐助者。

在美航中心举行的党代会上，人们普遍认为万斯是2028年民主党总统候选人的热门人选。一些人迫切希望特朗普公开宣布这一消息。

“他真正理解‘让美国再次伟大’运动及其所有组成部分，”来自明尼苏达州的共和党全国委员会委员AK Kamara说道。“他几乎就是‘让美国再次伟大’运动真正意义的下一个体现，那就是‘我们必须把美国放在第一位’。”

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images/文件

但只要跟特朗普的支持者提起万斯和2028年大选，另一个名字往往会浮现在他们脑海中，有时甚至无需人提醒：国务卿马可·卢比奥。尽管卢比奥曾公开表示，如果万斯参选他会支持他，但许多保守派人士仍然认为万斯是特朗普治下华盛顿一位精明能干的政治人物，具备总统潜质。

“我真的很喜欢那种花一份钱做十二份工作的人，”在田纳西州国会办公室工作的迪安娜·麦克劳克林说。

共和党内部对于特朗普在选择谁来领导他的运动方面应该拥有多大的话语权也存在分歧。麦克劳克林表示“应该由人民来决定”，而纽约皇后区共和党执行主任鲁萨特·拉姆戈帕尔则表示，他希望特朗普、卢比奥和万斯能够共同商讨该党的未来。

他说：“如果党内两位最有影响力的人物不在初选中直接竞争，对党更有利。我认为，由这两位党内最有影响力的人物组成联合竞选团队，将在2028年赢得大选。”

短期内，尽管白宫正在应对一场副总统从一开始就私下表示保留意见的中东战争，但万斯仍然是特朗普最亲密的顾问和最热心的公众辩护人之一。

但近几个月来，万斯利用他领导反欺诈工作组的任命，在全国各地的演讲中塑造了一个更加鲜明的形象，并利用频繁的旅行来加深与共和党捐助者和党内官员的联系，如果他选择在 2028 年参选，这些捐助者和官员将是他所需要的。

在这些公开露面中，万斯对经济问题的态度更为温和，他没有像特朗普那样一概忽视选民对住房负担能力的担忧，而是以既承认美国民众的沮丧情绪，又敦促他们坚持下去的措辞来回应。值得注意的是，万斯对选民担忧数据中心问题的理解远胜于特朗普。

马克·席费尔宾/Pool/法新社/盖蒂图片社

共和党人士指出，此次国内巡回演讲也让他有机会通过关注反欺诈问题来提升公众形象，而反欺诈问题在共和党内部很受欢迎——而不是让他不断受到关于伊朗战争的问题的质问。

一位特朗普的盟友这样评价万斯：“他有一种独特的亲和力。他非常平易近人，而且吸引了特朗普联盟中一个非常重要的群体。”

尽管特朗普在公开和私下场合都对万斯赞不绝口，但人们并不指望总统会很快采取行动，为他扫清2028年总统竞选的障碍。万斯和他的团队不仅要确定未来的发展方向，还要应对特朗普本人想要尽可能长时间地保持公众关注度的愿望。

值得注意的是，万斯在为期两晚的大会的最后一天发表了讲话——而且特朗普紧随其后再次出现，为大会画上了句号。

“在中期选举之前，他们不可能有所行动，”《美国保守派》杂志执行主任、万斯的盟友科特·米尔斯在谈到万斯登上全国舞台时说道。“问题是，最终的决定是在11月、2月还是明年春天做出？”

CNN的亚当·坎克林和基特·马赫对本报道亦有贡献。