Vance Passes Trump's Test
Vice President JD Vance is sworn in. Photo courtesy of the Office of Vice President of the United States. Public domain.
Two days before Donald Trump shocked the political world by tapping J.D. Vance as his running mate, the Ohio senator boarded a billionaire's private Gulfstream jet and flew straight into Trump's inner sanctum at Mar-a-Lago. Behind closed doors and gilded chandeliers, the final Apprentice-style loyalty test unfolded — and the former Trump critic cemented his place as the potential future of the MAGA movement.
Vance, once dubbed "Hillbilly Hamlet," bested his two biggest rivals — Florida Senator Marco Rubio and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum — in what insiders now describe as a high-stakes game of fealty, messaging, and symbolism. But will that be enough for Vance to keep his lofty position in the long term?
'Little Marco' Gets the Hook and Burgum Brought No Fire
It should have been a home-field advantage Marco Rubio. He's polished, experienced, and bilingual — a familiar face in a party always talking about broadening its appeal.
But a cloud hung over his candidacy from the start. Trump, who once belittled him as "Little Marco," never fully trusted the Floridian, according to Axios. The final nail came when legal experts flagged that a joint Trump-Rubio ticket could run afoul of the Constitution's 12th Amendment, which discourages both candidates from the same state.
It was a technicality, but it might have been the final nail in the coffin for Rubio's chances — although Trump would still bring him into his administration as Secretary of State.
Meanwhile, Burgum's appeal — calm, collected, loaded with tech money — may have impressed mainstream donors and Murdoch-run outlets, but it bored the base. Trump loyalists whispered that he was too normal, too establishment, too willing to sign abortion bans that scared off suburban voters. Even Trump hinted at it publicly, questioning Burgum's support for near-total abortion bans.
Vance's Transformation: From Critic to Crown Prince
Enter J.D. Vance. A onetime Trump hater who once compared him to Hitler, Vance has become Trump's most ardent defender — an arc that borders on Shakespearean.
The final stages of Vance's audition were less about policy than posture. Could he take the hits? Could he throw them? Could he play nice with the leader of the MAGA movement and become its prince? According to reporting from Politico, Trump had grown fond of Vance's cable news counterpunches and his aggressive defense of MAGA populism.
One of the most prominent examples, according to Politico, was when Vance barked back at reporters questioned Trump's use of the phrase "poisoning the blood" — rhetoric critics called reminiscent of Adolf Hitler — saying, "You guys need to wake up. It's an absurd question. It's an absurd framing."
"This guy is turning out to be [expletive] incredible," Trump reportedly said, according to Politico, on the plane back from East Palestine, Ohio — a visit Vance orchestrated to showcase Trump's populist appeal amid backlash to his controversial dinner with Ye and Nick Fuentes.
Grooming the Next MAGA Generation
Vance's rise was more than a promotion — it was a baton pass. At 40 years old, Vance now becomes the youngest person in generations to stand one heartbeat away from the presidency. A Yale Law graduate and former Marine, his resume reads like a résumé built for a political thriller — Silicon Valley venture capitalist, best-selling author, senator, and now Vice President.
He doesn't just mirror Trump's views. He amplifies them — sometimes with even sharper elbows, a far cry from his more critical era. Vance has questioned America's role in Ukraine, shifted positions on abortion to match Trump's more strategic ambiguity, and sparred with European leaders on immigration and speech laws. He even clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a now-infamous Oval Office meeting, where he challenged Zelensky on gratitude and diplomacy in the context of the war with Russia.
A Fragile Crown: Can Vance Hold the Throne?
For now, J.D. Vance wears the MAGA crown with Trump's blessing — but history offers little comfort to those who have held it before. Just ask Mike Pence, once considered indispensable, now persona non grata in the very circles he helped build. In Trumpworld, loyalty is rewarded — until it isn't.
Vance may have passed the loyalty test to get here, but the real exam starts now. His challenge isn't just to echo Trump, but to stay in sync with his ever-shifting instincts. The vice presidency might make him the legal successor, but in a movement powered more by personality than party structure, that title alone guarantees nothing. And there are signs of potential strain. Elon Musk's rising influence within the administration has already drawn more attention than Vance's early policy work.
MAGA influencers remain divided — some see Vance as the next evolution of the cause, others as a polished placeholder.
Trump, for his part, has kept the door open — and the field wide. According to the BBC, when asked if Vance was his heir apparent, Trump said, "No. But he's very capable."
Everyone's Watching
"Capable" may not be enough. In the world Vance now inhabits, proximity to power doesn't ensure permanence. If he wants to remain next in line — in fact as well as title — he'll need to keep proving that he's not just loyal to Trump's legacy, but also indispensable to its future.
References: Private meeting, billionaires and a G6 Gulfstream: The backstory on how Trump picked Vance | Rubio and Burgum cut from Trump's VP list | JD Vance once compared Trump to Hitler. Now, he is Trump's vice president-elect | Why Trump picked JD Vance as his running mate | JD Vance: The 'hillbilly' Maga loyalist who became vice-president
