Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also serving as President Trump’s national security adviser, appears to be gaining serious momentum heading into the 2028 GOP presidential race — even as Vice President J.D. Vance continues to dominate the field.

A new Atlas Intel poll shows Rubio rising to second place with 19% support, behind Vance, who leads with 37%. The poll marks Rubio’s strongest showing yet in a field that includes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump Jr., and others.

Rubio’s ascent is reviving speculation that he could be eyeing another presidential run — or perhaps more realistically, a place on the ticket alongside Vance as a 2028 “unity candidate” for the Trump-era Republican Party.

Rubio previously ran for president in 2016, coming up short in a crowded field. But since joining Trump’s second administration, he has reemerged as one of the most articulate and effective voices on foreign policy — and has earned praise from both MAGA loyalists and more traditional conservatives alike.

Political analyst Mark Halperin told Fox News anchor Bret Baier that the Vance-Rubio ticket may already be “preordained.”

“His knowledge of policy, his rhetoric, his confidence, and his winning over MAGA… he is just one of the stars of this administration,” Halperin said. “I really do think J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio could end up being a preordained ticket in 2028, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”

Rubio’s recent polling surge comes as DeSantis continues to slip. The Atlas poll places the Florida governor in fifth place with just 8% support, behind “none of the above” (16%) and Donald Trump Jr. (9%).

That’s a significant fall from grace for DeSantis, who just two years ago was considered the heir apparent to Trump. He now finds himself largely sidelined in Trumpworld, and notably wasn’t even mentioned when the president recently listed his preferred 2028 successors.

“You look at Marco, you look at J.D. Vance, who’s fantastic,” Trump told NBC News last month when asked about the GOP’s future. “There are 10 or 15 people who could run.”

Rasmussen Reports, however, paints a less rosy picture for Rubio — tying him and DeSantis at just 5% — suggesting that Atlas Intel may be the most favorable pollster for Rubio right now. Still, the trend line is unmistakable: Rubio is rising, while others are floundering.

Anti-Trump MSNBC contributor Tim Miller, no fan of the MAGA movement, even admitted recently that Rubio is becoming a force.

“I don’t possibly see how you could look at Marco Rubio’s behavior as anything other than an interest in 2028,” Miller said. “He has changed his views to move toward MAGA on basically every relevant foreign policy issue.”

Indeed, Rubio has become one of the most vocal critics of the Chinese Communist Party, and has taken a hard line on immigration enforcement — two positions that have helped him rehabilitate his standing with the MAGA base after his 2013 “Gang of Eight” debacle.

Rubio, a Cuban-American from Hialeah, Florida, brings a combination of foreign policy experience, Latino outreach, and electoral strength in the nation's largest swing state — making him an obvious complement to Vance’s Midwestern, working-class appeal.

Whether the Vance-Rubio ticket becomes reality remains to be seen, but one thing is increasingly clear: Marco Rubio is back in the game — and he’s playing to win.