HIGH STAKES

Trump’s Secret ‘Hunger Games’ Stunt for Vance and Rubio Is Leaked

The president reportedly asked a private dinner guest to compare the two while they sat at the same table.

Donald Trump pitted JD Vance against Marco Rubio during a private dinner, asking Rupert Murdoch to compare the 2028 Republican contenders while they sat at the same table.

The awkward exchange was detailed in an excerpt from Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, obtained by Axios. The book about Trump’s second term, set for publication on June 23, offers a glimpse into the 80-year-old president’s habit of holding impromptu popularity contests among his allies.

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Trump has long positioned his vice president, 41, and secretary of state, 55, as potential rivals in the 2028 presidential race. While he has not publicly endorsed either, he has asked friends and advisers to compare the two.

According to Haberman and Swan, Trump hosted Murdoch, Vance, Rubio, and several White House aides at a private dinner on Oct. 16, 2025. During the gathering, Trump turned to the 95-year-old conservative media mogul and asked him to assess the two men widely viewed as leading candidates for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination.

The president asked Murdoch whom he preferred, Vance or Rubio, while adding that he thinks “they’re both great.”

“What do you think of JD?” Trump asked.

Murdoch replied: “Well... I think JD has the potential to be great.”

“And what do you think of Marco?” Trump asked.

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Murdoch answered immediately: “Marco is brilliant.”

“With Vance and Rubio sitting awkwardly at the table, Murdoch was notably more effusive about Rubio,” Haberman and Swan wrote, according to the excerpt obtained by Axios.

The two New York Times reporters wrote that “the other guests would talk privately about the moment for weeks after the dinner.”

The authors said the episode showed that Vance could be sure Trump would not “make it easy for him” to secure the 2028 Republican nomination.

Murdoch had privately tried to persuade Trump not to select Vance as his running mate during the 2024 election campaign, according to Axios.

Vance has not confirmed his 2028 bid, but he has not ruled it out. He has said privately that a decision on the matter would be made after the birth of his fourth child in July.

In May, Trump asked attendees at a Rose Garden dinner to cheer for their preferred 2028 candidate, CNN reported at the time.

“Who’s it gonna be? Is it gonna be JD? Is it gonna be somebody else? I don’t know,” Trump said.

While the audience appeared to applaud slightly louder for Vance, Trump declined to say who he preferred. He described Vance and Rubio as the administration’s “dream team” and a “perfect ticket.”

Vance later acknowledged Trump’s apparent enjoyment of pitting him against Rubio.

“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 told the network.

Both Vance and Rubio have publicly downplayed any rivalry.

“I love Marco. I think he’s a great secretary of state. He’s become a very, very dear friend, but I think both of us are very much focused on accomplishing the American people’s business right now,” Vance said.

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Asked in May about who might succeed him, Trump said it was “far too early to say,” while praising both men. He said Vance was “doing a fantastic job,” and Rubio was “great.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and representatives for Vance, Rubio, and Murdoch for comment.

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Isabel van BrugenFreelance Writer

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