In the early hours of February 28, President Donald Trump and his administration joined Israel in launching a wave of attacks on Iran, and later that night, he asked a group of about 25 GOP donors at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, who they would prefer to support for president in 2028: Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Vice President J.D. Vance.According to two people present at the event, attendees overwhelmingly supported Rubio through their cheering. “It was almost unanimous for Marco,” said one attendee, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Yeah, that’s right,” said another attendee of the informal Trump poll. “It was obvious, at least that night.” Another person in the room described the reaction as more “evenly divided” between Rubio and Vance, NBC News reported.Donors included New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and billionaire Georgia gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson.A former Trump administration official said the gathering did not mean Rubio was the new favorite over Vance for 2028. “The Mar-a-Lago Donner crew are not Jedi people,” the former officer said. “He wasn’t chosen (to be vice president) because of the crowd at Mar-a-Lago. If you remember, that crowd was lobbying the president to elect Marco.” The former official said: “So, I would say that this kind of thing is a bit complicated. If there were a poll tomorrow, I’d bet JD would still be above 40 (points), or whatever.It wasn’t the first time Trump asked those around him how they should engage in the upcoming political fight to replace him as the Republican standard-bearer, and it suggests the president plans to play a bigger role and is taking an early interest in the party’s future. Trump appears to be enjoying his ability to be kingmaker in a race that could potentially pit top members of his own administration against each other, underscoring how fluid things were in Trump’s orbit and how quickly a president’s thinking can change.“The President has assembled an all-star team that has achieved unprecedented success in just one year,” White House spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “No amount of media speculation about Vice President Vance and Secretary Rubio will stop this administration’s mission to fight for the American people.”For months, Vance was seen as the front-runner to become the 2028 GOP nominee, underpinned by most public polling and Trump’s own comments. An NBC News poll released last week found that 77% of Republican voters had a positive view of Vance, while 66% had a positive view of Rubio.Vance or Rubio: Who is Trump’s choice?In August, Trump told Fox News that Vance was “probably” the heir to the MAGA movement and “probably supported him at this point.” He mentioned Rubio in the same breath. Trump said, “In all fairness, he is the Vice President, and I think Marco is also someone who will probably meet with JD in some form or another.”Trump also mentioned Rubio in an interview with NBC News in May, when he named him as a “great” potential GOP leader. In an interview with NBC News last month, Trump emphasized the differences between the two men. “I would say one is a little more diplomatic than the other,” Trump said without naming them, although diplomacy is Rubio’s job. “I think they both have very high IQs.”In recent weeks, Trump has increasingly praised Rubio, who has been more front and center due to his duties as secretary of state and national security adviser as the administration focuses on foreign policy battles over Venezuela, Iran and potentially Cuba. Trump twice singled out Rubio at a White House ceremony Thursday for Major League Soccer champion Inter Miami CF. “I’m telling you, Marco Rubio is going to be the best Secretary of State in the history of the country,” Trump said. He said: “I don’t want him to get too popular. You know, when they get too popular, suddenly you look, ‘Where’s Marco. He’s not around anymore.'”While Rubio’s profile rose due to his foreign policy portfolio, Vance, in contrast, faded into the background.Rubio was present in the makeshift Mar-a-Lago war room when the attacks on Iran began, while Vance was in Washington, photographed sitting at the head of the table where the president usually sits, sipping a Mountain Dew in the Situation Room. A spokesperson said Vance was not at Mar-a-Lago due to administration security protocols “to maintain operational confidentiality” and “prohibiting the President and Vice President from being away from the White House.”“Vance was the first member of the administration to defend the war on national TV. She and second lady Usha Vance joined Trump on Saturday as the remains of deceased US service members arrived at Dover Air Force Base. But since his appearance on Fox News on March 2, Vance has not had much of a public-facing role in the war message, and his once aggressive social media presence has been relatively quiet.“The entire national security team, including the Vice President, continues to be engaged in active discussions surrounding the operation in Iran,” Vance spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk said in a statement for this article.The war put Vance, an Iraq War veteran who had long spoken out against America’s involvement in dirty foreign conflicts, in a position that did not square with his personal views. While Vance was more hawkish on Iran and its nuclear capabilities, he expressed reservations about attacking the country, a person familiar with his thinking told NBC News.Trump hasn’t picked either candidate yet but his past speeches suggest he likes both of them and wanted one of them to lead the GOP.