Donald Trump Jr is rapidly emerging as a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, with new polling showing he has significantly closed the gap with current Vice President JD Vance.
The Shifting Republican Landscape
According to the latest survey from pollster McLaughlin and Associates conducted in November 2025, Trump Jr now trails Vance by just 10 percentage points among potential Republican voters. This represents a dramatic narrowing from August 2025, when the gap between them stood at 20 points.
The polling data reveals Vance's favourability has dropped to 34 percent, continuing a several-month decline. Meanwhile, the 47-year-old Trump Organization executive vice president has enjoyed steadily increasing popularity among the Republican base during the same period.
Trump Jr secured second place in a field of 16 hypothetical Republican candidates that included established figures like Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.
Contrasting Poll Results and Political Background
However, an alternative YouGov survey conducted earlier in November presents a different picture, showing Vance with 42 percent support against Trump Jr's 13 percent. This discrepancy highlights the uncertainty surrounding the early positioning for the 2028 Republican nomination.
The political dynamic between the two men is particularly intriguing given that Trump Jr originally recommended Vance to his father during the summer of 2024 when the president was selecting his running mate.
Trump Jr has long been a favourite within the MAGA movement, known for energising crowds at Trump rallies, defending the administration on cable news, and attacking Democrats on his Rumble podcast Triggered.
His lack of experience in public office may actually work to his advantage with Trump's "America First" supporters, who often view Washington insiders with suspicion.
From Business to Political Heir
Born on New Year's Eve 1977 to Donald Trump and his first wife Ivana Trump, Donald Trump Jr was educated at elite institutions including the Buckley School in Manhattan, The Hill School in Pennsylvania, and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where he graduated with an economics degree in 2000.
After a year spent bartending in Aspen, Colorado, he joined the family business, working on major Trump Organization property developments in New York and appearing regularly on The Apprentice from 2006 to 2015.
His personal life has included marriage to Vanessa Haydon from 2005 to 2018, with whom he has five children, followed by relationships with former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle and Florida socialite Bettiana Anderson.
Trump Jr embraced his father's political movement with enthusiasm but quickly encountered controversy. The June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who offered "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, became a focal point of Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference.
His social media presence has often mirrored his father's blunt style, including comparing Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles in 2016 and promoting various conspiracy theories. He received a temporary Twitter ban during the pandemic for sharing a video promoting hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.
More recently, he has engaged with internet culture by posting AI-generated images of his father and joining conservative outrage over Cracker Barrel's logo change.
Future Political Ambitions
While Trump Jr furiously denied a March 2025 story claiming he was seriously considering a presidential run, his comments at the Qatar Economic Forum in May suggested he hasn't ruled out the possibility entirely.
"That calling is there," the businessman acknowledged. "It's an honour to be asked and an honour to see that some people are OK with it... Maybe one day."
Republican political strategist Scott Jennings noted that Trump Jr "is probably the best embodiment of the take-no-crap attitude of the Republican Party."
With the primary season still years away, the question of whether Donald Trump Jr will formally enter the 2028 race remains unanswered, but his rising poll numbers indicate he represents a formidable potential candidate who could challenge the current Republican establishment.
