Vice President JD Vance has opened a commanding early lead in the race for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey published Tuesday. The poll shows Vance backed by 35% of likely GOP primary voters, more than triple the support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who tie at 10%. Among self-identified Republican voters, Vance’s advantage widens to 53%, with DeSantis and Rubio each at 11%. Vance was in Britain this week on what aides described as a “working holiday.” Staying in the Oxfordshire village of Dean, he held private talks with Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, after earlier conferring with Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House. Former chancellor George Osborne helped arrange the Cotswolds visit, according to the Financial Times. On Wednesday the vice president travelled to Royal Air Force Base Fairford, where he addressed U.S. airmen and their families. Praising the century-old U.S.–UK military partnership, Vance told the troops their presence “makes it possible for us to accomplish the President’s goals through negotiation,” a reference to President Donald Trump’s forthcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. The visit has drawn a modest but noisy backlash from local residents. Police erected roadblocks around Dean, and an estimated 50 to 100 protesters in nearby Charlbury staged a “Vance not welcome” gathering featuring placards and a van bearing a doctored image of the vice president. Similar demonstrations greeted Vance when he continued his vacation in Scotland on Thursday.