GOP eyes 2028

 Axios - Less than six months into President Trump's second term, several possible GOP contenders for president in 2028 already are racing to build their national profiles, travel to early primary states and establish relationships with major donors...  Trump, who has dominated GOP politics for a decade, can't legally run again. Several ambitious Republicans are signaling they see an opening to offer themselves to primary voters as the future of the party.

Trump has mentioned Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as possible successors, and they're widely seen as the early favorites for the 2028 nomination.

• Vance has been using his perch as finance chair of the Republican National Committee to make inroads with donors, and has been crisscrossing the country raising money for the party.
• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has been raising her profile with a series of photo ops with ICE agents during immigration raids, is also viewed as a possible 2028 contender.

Though it's too early for anyone to say they're running, several GOP officeholders are positioning themselves to do just that.

• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will visit Iowa later this month for an event with the state's GOP chair. Next month, Youngkin will headline a fundraising dinner for the GOP in South Carolina.
• Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is staking out turf as a deficit hawk and forcefully opposed Trump's big tax and spending bill. The senator, who waged an unsuccessful bid in 2016, recently went to Iowa and South Carolina and plans to go to New Hampshire this fall.
• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp addressed the Ronald Reagan Institute, a frequent stop for presidential hopefuls, in June. He has used his time as Republican Governors Association chair to introduce himself to major donors.
• Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was White House press secretary during Trump's first term, is headed to Iowa this month to appear at an event hosted by the Family Leader, a group overseen by prominent evangelical activist Bob Vander Plaats.
• South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who ran unsuccessfully in 2024, is using his National Republican Senatorial Committee chairmanship to travel and meet donors.

Testing the waters this early has risks. Trump will play a huge role in determining the party's next nominee, and could punish would-be candidates he sees as putting themselves ahead of him.