The last time Marco Rubio ran for president, Trump called him "Little Marco" and ended his campaign in Florida.
Now Trump is standing in the Rose Garden asking crowds whether they prefer Rubio or JD Vance – and calling them a "dream team."
Something has changed, and Republicans who want to know who's running the country in 2029 should pay attention right now.
The First National Poll That Actually Means Something
A new Atlas Intel survey puts Rubio at 45% support among Republican primary voters for 2028 – a 15-point lead over Vice President JD Vance.
https://twitter.com/KellieMeyerNews/status/2053995076699766969?s=20
Ron DeSantis sits alone in third at 11%, with every other potential candidate below 1%.
This isn't a fluky online opt-in poll.
Atlas Intel conducted the survey May 4–7, using the same methodology that called 2024 better than virtually any competitor.
When Atlas Intel shows a 15-point gap, it means something.
Trump Already Told You Who He's Thinking About
Days after the poll closed, Trump stood in front of supporters at the Rose Garden and asked them directly – Rubio or Vance?
Then he called them a "dream team" and a "perfect ticket."
That is as close to a public blessing as a sitting president gives a potential successor without making it official.
https://twitter.com/DefiantLs/status/2053865212177223894?s=20
Trump did the same thing with DeSantis in 2021 and 2022 – constant public praise that translated directly into poll numbers and donor confidence.
Rubio is getting that treatment now, and the numbers are already moving.
DeSantis, meanwhile, is a different kind of story.
After a 2024 primary run that collapsed faster than anyone predicted, he spent 2025 quietly governing Florida and staying completely out of the national spotlight.
No book tours.
No cable news feuds.
No positioning.
He just governed – and now he's posting his strongest national primary numbers since before his presidential campaign fell apart.
Eleven percent sounds modest until you remember where he's been.
Here's what people are missing about this entire race: Trump already told you who he wants.
He stood in the Rose Garden, called Rubio and Vance up, and asked a crowd which one they liked better.
Then he called them a "dream team."
That is not a man staying neutral.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2054226309568503897?s=20
That is a man who spent years calling someone "Little Marco" – humiliating him on national television, ending his career as a presidential candidate in his own home state – and then turned him into the Secretary of State and the frontrunner for 2028.
Only Trump could do that.
And only a politician as disciplined as Rubio could survive it, serve loyally, and come out the other side leading every poll that matters.
The pundits will spend the next three years telling you Vance has the structural advantage.
Maybe.
But Trump just told 45% of Republican primary voters exactly who he's thinking about – and they listened.
Sources:
- A.G. Gancarski, "Outlier? Poll finds Marco Rubio atop GOP 2028 wish list, Ron DeSantis with double-digit support," Florida Politics, May 12, 2026.
- Atlas Intel, National Republican Primary Survey, May 4–7, 2026, atlasintel.org.
