Rand Paul Says He Might Run for President

Why the Kentucky Republican says he might be eyeing the White House in 2028. #56

Gage Skidmore

JD Vance has been considered the heir apparent of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and the man to beat in the 2028 Republican presidential primaries.

But will the vice president be inevitable now that Trump has started an unpopular war with Iran? Will Vance be invincible after supporting his president’s unpopular tariffs?

Rand Paul thinks maybe not.

In an interview Sunday, the senator talked about whether or not he might run for president in 2028 and why.

‘There Needs to Be a Free-Market Wing of the Republican Party’

“We’ll decide after 2026,” Paul said.

What’s to decide?

Paul said to NBC’s Chuck Todd, “The most important thing to me isn’t necessarily me or what my role is, but that there is someone who’s advocating that international trade is good and makes us rich. That big is not bad.”

The Kentucky Republican has been an outspoken opponent of Trump’s tariffs. Some polls have shown that more than 70 percent of Americans believe tariffs have increased the costs of goods.

Paul described the difference between himself and what a figure like Vance might have to offer in terms of fostering a better economy.

The senator said that “the populists also want to break up big business. They want to break up Google because they’re liberal or Meta because it’s liberal.”

“I’m not one of those people, but that is sort of the Trump-Vance populist wing,” Paul noted.

He added that “there needs to be a free-market wing of the Republican Party. And I want to be part of trying to ensure that still exists.”

This criticism of Trump’s tariffs is not new. Paul told Kentucky’s Courier Journal in July, “I think in the Republican Party, though, there needs to be someone representing that international trade is good for America, that we get richer and more prosperous in the world we trade.”

Paul ran for president in 2016 in a cycle where every candidate including establishment darlings Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio were crushed by Donald Trump. Paul would eventually endorse Trump and became one of his most ardent supporters and defenders.

The Need for a True Anti-War ‘America First’ Republican

A significant part of Paul’s support for Trump was his condemnation of George W. Bush-Dick Cheney-Iraq War-style neoconservatism, an antiwar stance the senator shared with his father, libertarian icon Ron Paul.

Trump ran in 2016, 2020 and 2024 promising not to start any endless, regime change wars as all other 21st century presidents have done.

But now that Trump has launched an unnecessary regime change war with Iran, where does that leave an actual “America First” non-interventionist like Paul?

For starters, speaking out against the Iran War.

Paul said after Trump attacked Iran in late February, “The biggest threat to America and to our national security is actually our debt. I don’t think we were ever in danger of Iranian troops or the navy coming over to the United States.”

He later told Fox Business that “The war should never have begun.”

“I think it’s not good for America. I think what’s going to happen is it’s going to turn the public also against the president and against the Republican Party,” Paul said.

Poll show Americans are overwhelmingly against this new war of choice and over half believe its in part to cover up for the the release of the Epstein Files, the previously classified emails and communications of the late convicted sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Paul has consistently opposed U.S. wars abroad including the current one with Iran, and has tried to refocus on the American economy instead.

“I frankly think the biggest threat to America, the biggest threat to our national security, is actually our debt,” Paul told Fox Business.

The U.S. reportedly spent more than $11 billion in just the first six days of the war in Iran

Sen. Paul said, “They’re talking about another $50 billion they need immediately, but the president is also talking about another $500 billion that he wants to spend on the military. That would be a 50% increase in our military.”

“I think that you can’t be fiscally conservative and be for unlimited warfare,” he added.

Paul said last week, “The biggest threat to America and to our national security is actually our debt. I don’t think we were ever in danger of Iranian troops or the navy coming over to the United States.”

President Rand Paul?

When asked back in September if he would make another White House bid, Paul replied, “We’ll see over time what happens.”

When asked this week, Paul said he’s thought about it, that there needs to be an anti-tariff and antiwar Republican in the presidential mix, and that he’s keeping an open mind on that front.

Both Donald Trump’s tariffs and his war with Iran have been unpopular thus far. Both could mean a lot for JD Vance’s presidential prospects.

They could mean a lot for Rand Paul’s too.