As Donald Trump's campaign kicks its search for a vice presidential candidate into higher gear, one Republican senator has asserted that the chosen nominee is also expected to be the former president's successor in the 2028 presidential race.

"This person will not only be one heartbeat away from the presidency during President Trump's next term but will likely be our nominee in '28 and serve as president for the next eight years following President Trump's term," Montana Senator Steve Daines told Politico.

Trump and his associates have reportedly floated an array of potential candidates, including Senators Marco Rubio, JD Vance and Tim Scott, as well as governors, including former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Trump has dismissed the significance of the vice presidency in the past - saying that the most important criterion for selecting his running mate is that they could be a good president "in case of emergency." 

At the same time, however, the former president has reportedly asked guests at Mar-a-Lago for their take on vice presidential candidates, while having meetings where he vacillates between several options.

"He's going to draw this out 'Apprentice'-style," a source close to the campaign told Politico.

The campaign has even highlighted the selection process during fundraising efforts by sending supporters emails with the subject line "Want to know who my VP will be?"

During his 2016 campaign, Trump selected then-Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate to ensure that he could hold on to the party's conservative, religious base. Eight years later, in a changed political landscape, the GOP's priorities are no longer the same.

In the years since Trump and Pence left office, many Republicans have derided the former vice president for not participating in Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. On the morning of the January 6 insurrection, Trump told Pence that if he certified the election results it would be a "career-killer," a White House employee testified before the January 6 committee.

"When people didn't know Trump beyond sort of the TV personality or the business guy, you needed a little more balance. And I think that made a lot of sense with Mike Pence at the time," Donald Trump Jr. told Politico. "Now, I think we see where our country is, you need someone who's actually going to fight."