Overview
- A forthcoming book excerpt recounts a private dinner where President Trump asked Rupert Murdoch to compare Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio while both sat at the table.
- The excerpt says Murdoch was notably more effusive about Rubio and had earlier tried to persuade Trump not to pick Vance as his 2024 running mate.
- The scene is presented as one example of a wider pattern in which the president tests and solicits views about possible successors in informal settings.
- Public polling referenced in coverage shows Vance and Rubio competitive in hypothetical 2028 matchups, meaning private assessments by influencers can affect early momentum and public perceptions.
- The account appears in Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan and signals how close advisers and media figures may shape Republican succession conversations and the political standing of the people involved.