White House and State Department deny reports Rubio is preparing to resign for 2028 run

The White House and State Department on Thursday denied reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is preparing to leave the Trump administration to lay the groundwork for a 2028 presidential campaign. The Independent, citing sources in Washington and the British government, reported that Rubio is on "resignation watch" after Democratic victories in Tuesday's midterm elections. A Rubio ally told the paper it "makes complete sense" for him to step down, since he cannot run a national campaign while in office. The report also said Rubio wants to separate his political brand from the Iran war. It added that Republican sources expect up to five Cabinet members to leave before the Democratic-controlled Congress convenes in January, to avoid investigations and possible impeachment efforts. The State Department called the reports a "baseless hoax"; Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson called them "fake news" from anonymous sources. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle called them "baseless, false conspiracy theories." Bloomberg also reported on Rubio's deliberations, according to The Hill. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that Vice President JD Vance "maybe" won't run in 2028 and that he would not have done anything differently on Iran.

Just the News, on the right, leads with the denials in its headline and opening, noting that Vance and Trump tied the Iran war to the Democratic wins. It describes Rubio as an establishment favorite with a foreign-policy background, and it does not include the Cabinet-exit claim or Trump's remarks about Vance. The New Republic, on the left, treats the report as evidence that Trump is losing power and calls the midterm result a "bloodbath." It stresses the Iran war's unpopularity, the snub to Vance and Trump's remarks, and mentions the denials only in passing. Both sides report the Independent's claim and the official denials. They differ in whether they lead with the rebuttal or the premise. TRT World adds the ally's comments and the Cabinet-exit claim, while The Hill leads with the denial.