White House reporters predict which Republicans they believe will run for president after Trump

AUSTIN, Texas — Three prominent White House reporters discussed which Republicans could run to succeed President Donald Trump in 2028 — and floated a wide range of names.Politico White House bureau chief Dasha Burns, NBC News chief White House correspondent Garrett Haake and New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman sat down for a panel discussion about covering the Trump presidency Friday at the Texas Tribune Festival.While much of the discussion focused on Trump’s current term in office, moderator Annah Aschbrenner of The Washington Post finished the conversation by asking how the “competition” will shape up in the next election.“I think there are four lanes to the Republican Party,” Haake responded.“I think one lane is the Trump successor, the sort of like, from the inside of the White House, who’s the person who gets blessed… Presumably, that’s JD Vance.

Unless JD Vance decides, for whatever reason, [he] doesn’t want it, or is somehow disqualified, then maybe it’s Marco Rubio.”“Then I think there’s the ‘I tried to help you, but you didn’t listen’ lane, which is like Ted Cruz, somebody who’s going to spend the next two years making Trump’s closest ally, fight real hard, but then when it comes around saying, you know, it didn’t work, [Trump’s] approval rate is 25%, here’s what I told him to do, he didn’t listen,” he continued.“Then I’d think there is this explicitly anti-Trump lane, which is somebody like if Chris Christie… maybe it’s [outgoing Nebraska Congressman] Don Bacon or somebody like that.”Haake then shared what he called his “fourth wild card,” which was HHS Secretary Robert F.

Kennedy Jr., sparking gasps and groans from the largely liberal audience.Burns jumped in, adding former DNI Tulsi Gabbard to Haake’s fourth lane of candidates.Haake theorized that if the MAGA coalition is fractured by 2028, the “MAHA group” — the Make America Healthy Again movement that help...