J.D. Vance Addresses Possibility of an 'Apprentice'-Style Presidential Election — After Trump Polled Crowd on His 2028 Replacement
J.D. Vance addressed Trump's recent impromptu presidential poll.
May 14 2026, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Vice President J.D. Vance addressed the possibility of President Donald Trump choosing his replacement with an Apprentice-style reality show, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Earlier this week, the POTUS, 79, unexpectedly polled the crowd at the White House's Rose Garden Club on who they would want to be his successor in the 2028 presidential election – Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio?
Donald Trump Polls Crowd on 2028 Election
Donald Trump asked the crowd to applaud for either J.D. Vance or Marco Rubio.
"Who’s it going to be? Is it going to be J.D.? Is it going to be somebody else? I don’t know," he said at the time, prompting the audience to clap based on their favorite option. "Who likes J.D. Vance?"
Some of the crowd applauded.
Then he asked, "Who likes Marco Rubio?" which earned slightly less enthusiastic cheers.
"Sounds like a good ticket. That was a perfect ticket," the president replied. "By the way, I do believe that’s a dream team, but these are minor details. That does not mean that you have my endorsement under any circumstance ... I think it sounds like presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate."
J.D. Vance Shuts Down Reality Show Election
J.D. Vance didn't seem sold on there being a 'televised competition' for the presidency.
On Wednesday, May 13, Vance weighed in on the interaction and the idea that Trump might hold a more official "competition" while speaking at a press conference.
"Well, I just don't think it sounds like the president of the United States to have a televised competition for who would succeed him as his apprentice," he explained with a laugh. "I just think that's not at all what you would expect the president to do."
"I think the president, he's always been fascinated by politics," the VP continued. "He was fascinated by politics 30 years before he ever ran for office."
"So, I think it's natural for him to, you know, joke around with us a little bit, to play around with the idea," Vance noted. "But I can tell you, the president is as focused as any of us on making sure we do as good of a job now for the American people."
Prime Video's Rumored Talks to Revive 'The Apprentice'
Prime Video may be considering Donald Trump Jr. for an 'Apprentice' reboot.
This comes after Radar reported that Amazon Prime Video is considering a potential reboot of The Apprentice after their acquisition of MGM.
Trump famously hosted The Apprentice and its spinoff The Celebrity Apprentice from 2004 to 2015, but now, it could be Donald Jr.'s term to say, "You're fired!"
But as rumors swirled that Don Jr. would be following in his father's footsteps, Amazon released a statement clarifying that nothing was set in stone.
"Since our acquisition of MGM, we have had preliminary internal discussions about what’s next for The Apprentice as a property," a spokesperson said at the time. "Any reporting on details of the show or names of potential hosts would be purely speculative."
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Donald Trump said Don Jr. would 'probably' be 'good' at hosting 'The Apprentice.'
The POTUS also gave a lukewarm reply when asked what he thought about his eldest son possibly taking the reigns of the franchise.
"We’ll see what happens," he said. "He’d be probably good. He’s got a little charisma going. You need a little charisma for that sucker. So, we’ll see what happens."
