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WASHINGTON – Donald Trump is more unpopular than ever, facing historically poor approval ratings and growing rejection of his agenda from his own party in Congress.

But the most important sign that the president is entering his outgoing term is the behavior of other Republicans, especially those eager to position themselves as potential leaders of the post-Trump party.

With more than three years left in their second term, some prominent Republicans are beginning to position themselves for a post-Trump world, building their national profiles by taking positions that are sometimes antithetical to Trump’s and traveling to early primary states to meet with donors.

Although Vice President JD Vance is widely considered the GOP favorite to succeed MAGA, Trump’s political struggles have sparked speculation about other potential candidates, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and several of Trump’s Cabinet members.

Meanwhile, Democrats’ big election victories this month bode well for their party’s performance in next year’s midterm elections, where taking back the House or Senate would give them significant powers to rein in the administration and launch all kinds of investigations into allegations of corruption and self-dealing by Trump, his family and many of his aides.

Even Trump seems to recognize that the clock is ticking on his presidency.

“We will be here for three and a quarter years,” Trump commented at a White House dinner last week. “For Trump, that’s like an eternity. For others, that doesn’t seem like a long time.”

J.D. Vance

AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

Early polls show Vice President JD Vance as a clear and heavy favorite for the 2028 Republican nomination. He is polling competitively in a hypothetical matchup against California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), who is expected to run for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

Vance has been Trump’s biggest MAGA whisperer during his first year in office, traveling across the country to speak to conservative audiences and connect with evangelical voters following the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in September. The president has called Vance his “most likely” heir without actually endorsing him yet.

Vance said during an interview with News this week that he planned to talk to Trump about the 2028 race after next year’s midterm elections. But the vice president clearly has one eye on the future, telling Breitbart News that “we’re not going back” to what the Republican Party was like before Trump.

“The American people don’t want stupid wars or American jobs going overseas or open borders. I mean, whether intentionally or not, that was the legacy of the pre-Donald J. Trump Republican Party. I’m glad the president steered us away from that Republican Party,” Vance said. “We’re not going back to that.”

Ted Cruz

AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is clearly trying to shift the direction of the Republican Party toward what he sees as a purer, more principled form of conservatism. Whether that will include another presidential bid remains to be seen, but the 2016 Republican presidential candidate and longtime Trump foe has been increasingly outspoken in recent months about the far-right segments of the MAGA coalition, including the party’s racists and anti-Semites.

“If you sit with someone who says that Adolf Hitler was very, very great and that his mission is to fight and defeat the Jews around the world, and you say nothing, then you are a coward and you are complicit in that evil,” Cruz said. saying last month after former News host Tucker Carlson, a Trump supporter who is an ally of Vance, featured white supremacist Nick Fuentes in an uncritical interview.

Cruz also made headlines when he criticized the Federal Communications Commission and its Trump-appointed chairman, Brendan Carr, after Carr threatened to retaliate against ABC host and Cruz foe Jimmy Kimmel for comments Kimmel made about Kirk, who was murdered in September. Cruz, who heads the Senate committee that oversees the FCC, compared the threat to mafia tactics and condemned him.

The White House is paying attention. Trump White House officials and their allies believe the conservative senator is using his position on the committee as a way to position himself against Vance ahead of the 2028 presidential race, according to acquaintance.

The Texas Republican did not rule out a presidential run when asked about it in an interview with News themezone, instead highlighting his legislative accomplishments and his support for Trump.

“My focus is on the fight in front of us,” Cruz said this week. “We are winning important victories. We have seen illegal border crossings decrease by more than 99%. On the One Big Beautiful bill, we won historic conservative victories. I was proud to write very important parts of that bill, including the largest federal school choice program in American history.”

“And that’s why my focus is on continuing to achieve victories for 31 million Texans and continuing to achieve victories for the American people by working hand in hand with President Trump,” he added.

rand paul

AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has not shied away from expressing interest in another shot at the White House. The 2016 Libertarian Republican presidential candidate has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Trump. he didn’t do it endorse Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign until three months after Election Day, saying he was wrong not to do it sooner.

Recently, however, Paul has become increasingly critical of Trump’s policies, especially his tariffs and the rate of spending in the GOP-controlled Congress.

The Kentucky Republican told News themezone this week that running for the White House is “an option” on the table because of Trump’s trade policies.

“I want to be a voice in the future of what happens for the country and also for the Republican Party,” he said. “I think, for me, the ranks of people in elected office who are still in favor of free trade have thinned, and so I want that voice to be an option for people, whether that means running for president or just being active.”

“We probably won’t know for a while, but it’s an option,” he added of a presidential run.

Marjorie Taylor Greene

AP Photo/John Bazemore, File

No Republican lawmaker has had a more dramatic break with Trump than Marjorie Taylor Greene, who announced last week that she would resign from Congress in January. The far-right congresswoman from Georgia was once his biggest supporter in the House, taking on the role of MAGA attack dog against former President Joe Biden and making excuses for Trump and his supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

But Trump’s initial opposition to the release of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Greene defended, as well as his policies on immigration and health care that have angered some within the MAGA world, have driven the two further apart. Trump criticized the congresswoman this week, calling her a “traitor” and a “disgrace.”

Greene did not back down, saying Trump’s handling of the Epstein files was “destructive” to the MAGA movement.

“This has been one of the most destructive things for MAGA, is watching the man we supported early in three elections, the people who stood for hours, slept in their cars, went to rallies, fought for truth and transparency and held accountable what we consider a corrupt government, watching this actually turn into a fight has torn MAGA apart,” Greene said.

Greene has a long history of making transphobic, racist and xenophobic comments, but her decision to speak out against Trump has drawn praise from Democrats. He has even received invitations to speak on national shows, such as ABC’s “The View,” which is popular among liberals. Like Vance, she wants to encourage the Republican Party to move in a more populist direction, although it’s not entirely clear what that means for her.

“I really just want to see people be nice to each other,” Greene said CNN earlier this week. “And we need to find a new path forward that centers the American people, because as Americans, no matter what side of the aisle we are on, we have much more in common than we have differences.”

Marco Rubio

Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, another former 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has he made it known who believes Vance is the favorite in the race and would support him if the Ohioan decides to run for president.

“I think JD Vance would be a great nominee if he decides he wants to do that,” Rubio saying during an interview with News earlier this year.

But Rubio’s name has emerged anyway as a possible rival to Vance, even by Trump, who told reporters that his diplomatic chief would be a good presidential prospect last month. Rubio’s record on foreign policy could help him in a Republican primary. He helped dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a favorite punching bag of the right, imposed sanctions on Venezuela and Cuba, and assisted in the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas.

Vance has also not ruled out the possibility of running against Rubio in 2018.

“If Marco ultimately runs for president, then we can cross that bridge when the time comes,” Vance said. said News in a separate interview this month.

And he added: “But people have asked me: ‘Do you see Marco as a rival?’ First of all, if any of us end up running, it’s a long way down the road and none of us have a right to it.”

Ron DeSantis

AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File

Asked if he was thinking about presidential candidate DeSantis (R), Trump’s former rival and Florida governor, he dodged the question, saying he was focused on winning Republican races in next year’s midterm elections.

“I’m not thinking about anything because I think that now we have a president who hasn’t even been in power for a year. We have a lot to accomplish… We have to do a good job as Republicans,” he said in cnn this week.

“These maneuvers and everything I don’t think are productive for us. Doing things for the people,” he added.

DeSantis is term-limited and his current term as governor will end in January 2027, freeing him up should he decide to run for higher office again.