As noted on today’s edition of The Editors, besides Donald Trump Jr.’s abysmal judgment in whom he accepts lavish wedding parties from, and general association with shady wealthy foreigners, there is the strange phenomenon of Trump Jr. often being listed as an option in surveys asking Republicans whom they want to nominate for president in 2028. The president’s son often places a distant but still respectable third place. The most recent Financial Times poll has him at 7 percent, and the Harvard-Harris poll has him at 18 percent.
Every now and then, Don Jr. will make a comment that vaguely hints at interest in running for president someday, but he usually walks it back afterwards. For example, at the Qatar Economic Forum in May 2025, he said, “The answer is: I don’t know, maybe one day. You know, that calling is there.” But shortly afterward, he added via X, “while I’ll never 100 percent rule it out down the line, I have ZERO interest in running for office in 28 or anytime soon.”
Donald Trump Jr. enthusiastically encouraged his father to select JD Vance as his running mate in 2024, so any interest in running in 2028 would inevitably be interpreted as disappointment with Vance. This is one of the reasons Trump Jr. sent Mediaite an expletive-laced response when that outlet reported that he was considering a 2028 bid.
Donald Trump Jr. has never run for any office before. He has never served in any government position before. Yes, his father hadn’t served in any office before when he ran in 2016, but he had spent three decades as a nearly universally recognized celebrity associated with wealth and success. (With that said, there was a report this spring that Amazon was considering a reboot of The Apprentice, featuring Trump Jr. in his father’s old role.)
Trump Jr. says he’s not interested in running for president, there’s no sign of any nascent campaign, and a bid would instantly split MAGA. So . . . why do pollsters keep choosing to list him as an option? And why do some respondents pick him as their preferred nominee?
They could save a lot on yard signs by reusing the old ones and just slapping “Junior” on them?
They want to really drive the “No Kings” crowd crazy by turning the presidency into a family heirloom?