Ari Emanuel Reveals Who President Trump Suggested Could Be the Next Commander in Chief: ‘Formidable’

Super-agent Ari Emanuel may have fired President Donald Trump as a client, but the commander in chief still confides in him.

In a Q&A with Rachel Maddow in New York City on Tuesday, September 22, to promote his new memoir, Roll the Calls, Ari, 65, told the crowd about a recent conversation with the Apprentice alum, 80, about a proposed tax credit for film and TV production in the U.S.

“I spoke to him three weeks ago,” the WME Group head revealed, per Page Six, adding that “he thought JD [Vance] and Marco Rubio would be a formidable group” in the next election.

The 2028 ticket would ideally see Vance, 42, running for president with Rubio, 55, as running mate, Ari said Trump explained.

A source confirms his comments to Globe, and reveals that Maddow, 53, also asked Ari about whether his brother — President Barack Obama‘s former chief of staff and former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel — will throw his hat in the ring.

After reeling off some of Rahm’s accomplishments, the source says Ari asked Maddow hypothetically, “Is anyone more qualified?” before adding, “No [expletive] way.”

Ari also said he would “support” Rahm, 66, “100 percent” if he were to run.

In his book, Ari recalled the moment he told Trump he wouldn’t work with him anymore. “I tell him I’ve never dropped a client with such ease,” he wrote, per Page Six. “And I tell him I didn’t vote for him.”

As Globe previously reported, Trump enjoys the “rivalry” between Vance and Rubio according to Rob Shuter‘s Naughty But Nice Substack. The vice president and secretary of state “can’t stand each other,” Shuter added, and Trump “knows competition keeps everyone sharp, loyal, and desperate to impress him.”

Roll the Calls is out now.