Romney has a 2028 prediction — but there's a catch

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Sen. Mitt Romney said he stands by his prediction that Vice President JD Vance will still be the Republican Party's next presidential nominee, but also noted that it depends on how President Donald Trump handles his last two years in office.

In a statement to the Deseret News, Romney said Republican losses in the recent midterm elections don't change his past prediction that Vance will be the next GOP leader.

"I still think the vice president is the most likely of potential contenders to become the nominee, though that's less certain following the election," he said. "But as the midterms show, predictions like this can change pretty dramatically with events."

During Romney's congressional exit interview, he predicted in late 2024 — after Trump and Vance won — that Vance would likely be the party's 2028 nominee for the next era of politics post-Trump.

"MAGA is the Republican Party, and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today," he told CNN's Jake Tapper at the time. "And if you were to ask me who the nominee will be in 2028, it'll be JD Vance."

Despite Republicans' widespread losses in the 2026 midterm election, which has been viewed as a rebuke to Trump, Romney said he believes Vance is the likely next GOP nominee.

Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are regularly named as Trump's "heirs" to the Republican Party once the president leaves office. However, election victories for Democrats in reliably red strongholds may put the vice president in a difficult position, as he is the closest-aligned presidential hopeful to Trump and his agenda, while also needing to carve out a space in the party of his own.

After the election, Vance issued a lengthy statement about his belief that Republicans saw big losses because of the ongoing war with Iran, which has spiked gas prices for much of the year.

While Trump and Vance insisted it wasn't, the vice president's statement appeared to be a move breaking with the president. Trump maintained after the election that the war in Iran was necessary and something he'd do again if he had to because of concerns about Iran's attempts to acquire nuclear weapons.

Romney said Vance's prospects and chance to win the 2028 nomination may depend more on Trump's performance during his final two years in office than "anything he might do" himself.

In a statement after the midterms, Romney criticized the Republican Party for what he said were missteps on issues.

"Bad policy, bad character make bad politics: erratic tariffs, impulsive Iran war, blanket pardons, apparent corruption, weaponized justice, ICE brutality, mountainous deficits, hiding Epstein, abandoning allies and coddling enemies," Romney wrote. "Hoping for a course correction, for the country and for my party."