VANCE, RUBIO OFFER CLUES TO 2028 US RACE

A study of their divergent styles and interaction can likely determine who might take on the mantle next

- Bloomberg

Secretary of state Marco Rubio (left) and vice president J.D Vance (right) are US President Donald Trump's top two lieutenants.

(AFP & AP)

US President Donald Trump's boycott of this weekend's Group of 20 summit in South Africa leaves the forum fumbling to divine his latest intentions on the global stage without a US representative for the first time since its inception.

Fortunately, world leaders can find insight in the foreign policy machinations of the US president's top two lieutenants: vice president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio. Although those around them insist that there's no mutual rivalry, it hasn't curbed their boss's impulse to fuel an Apprentice-style contest on the global stage.

Both the Republican stars, who have each chased White House dreams, have closely aided Trump as he sketches out the bones of a new foreign policy. Paying attention to their divergent styles and interaction offers clues to reading the emerging doctrine espoused by the US administration as well as a gauge of who might take on the mantle for the 2028 race.

Rubio, 54, a longtime anti-Communist hawk, has embraced Trump's aggressive approach while seeking ways to deal in private. Vance, 41, a relative newcomer to politics best known for a memoir about life in small-town Ohio and Kentucky, embodies the Make America Great Again movement's anti-elite sensibilities, plus Trump's penchant for disruptive and unpredictable dealmaking.