Rubio Sidelined as Vance Takes Charge of High-Stakes Iran Talks

Marco Rubio is keeping a low profile as the Trump administration navigates Iran nuclear negotiations, reportedly watching to see whether JD Vance stumbles in his bid to break the deadlock. According to Axios, the Secretary of State has stepped back from the front line of talks with Tehran, allowing Vance to take the lead amid hopes among some allies that any diplomatic failure would land on the vice president ahead of 2028. “He is waiting to see if Vance self-destructs,” a U.S. official told the outlet. Trump has used both Rubio and Vance to manage competing pressures involving Iran, Israel and Lebanon, with Rubio described by a senior Trump adviser as taking “a more pro-Israel” approach while Vance occupies the role of the “Israel-skeptic.”

The two men were also said to have clashed behind closed doors over a memorandum of understanding reached earlier this month between Washington and Tehran. Vance, joined by Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, pushed the president to approve the agreement, contending that it could calm energy markets by reopening the Strait of Hormuz and help bring down gasoline prices before the midterm elections. Rubio, however, was reportedly doubtful that Iran would ultimately commit to a lasting arrangement designed to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Tensions have intensified as the U.S. and Iran traded drone and missile fire in recent days, raising fears that a delicate ceasefire could unravel and further dim hopes for peace in the Middle East. “Don’t think of them as two sides of the same coin,” one administration adviser said of Vance and Rubio. “They’re more like the different tools on a Swiss Army knife.” Still, other officials rejected the idea that the two are at odds, insisting they are “working in concert with each other.”

“It’s not that one has the pro-Israel bucket and the other has the anti-Israel bucket. It’s not how it works internally,” a senior administration official said. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly also brushed aside suggestions of a Vance-Rubio rivalry, saying: “There is one camp — President Trump’s camp — and the entire administration is fully behind the president’s efforts to ensure Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.” Both Vance and Rubio are commonly viewed as leading contenders to carry forward Trump’s MAGA movement in the 2028 presidential race.

Trump has often asked close advisers and donors for their assessments of the two potential successors, and he has publicly suggested that Vance and Rubio could form a 2028 ticket together — without saying which one should lead it. Vance, who has built his political identity around populism and a more restrained foreign policy, is regarded by many Republicans as Trump’s most obvious heir. Earlier this year, the vice president was among the few figures in Trump’s cabinet warning against a war with Iran, arguing that a shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz could trigger an oil shock. Rubio, meanwhile, is presenting himself as a more conventional Republican hawk, seeking to bridge the party’s establishment wing with Trump’s loyal base.