December 10: Democratic National Committeechair candidateJames Skoufis calls on the Democratic National Committee to maintain its current presidential nominating calendar that puts South Carolina first in the 2028 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Skoufis writes in a memo, "South Carolina has been placed at the forefront of the presidential nominating process. I believe they deserve a genuine opportunity for a competitive primary. The contest between Dean Phillips and Joe Biden was not a serious primary. So let’s have one.”[3]
December 22: New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley states his intention to try to work to return the first-in-the-nation Democratic Party presidential primary status back to New Hampshire in the 2028 presidential nominating calendar. In an interview with WMUR-TV, Buckley states, "We believe we have a very strong case to make. It's two years away. We think it's important that people [don't] think someone put a thumb on it, and we are awarded our position because we earned it."[4]
February 22: Vice President Vance wins the 2025 CPAC presidential straw poll with 61%, with Steve Bannon in second at 12%.[7]
March 19: The New York Times reports that Trump and the Republican Party had threatened, signed executive actions, and ordered investigations into their political opponents, critics, and organizations aligned with the Democratic Party and progressive politics in an attempt to hobble Democrats' ability to compete in future elections.[8]
March 30: NBC reported that Donald Trump would not rule out seeking a third term as president, with Trump saying he "was not joking" about a third term, and telling NBC "there are methods" for doing so, including running for vice president with JD Vance running for president and, upon winning, passing the role to Trump.[9]
April 24: The Trump Organization began selling hats and T-shirts with "Trump 2028" written on them, provoking questions about whether or not Trump would attempt to run for a third term.[10]
According to The Washington Post, presidential candidates tend to declare their candidacies about a year and a half before Election Day, with the median date in mid-March 2027. However, some candidates declare much earlier, such as Donald Trump 721 days before Election Day, Andrew Yang 997 days before, and John Delaney 1,194 days before,[13] while some candidates declare at the very end, such as Kamala Harris 107 days before Election Day, following Joe Biden's withdrawal from the race.
December 18: Electors to the Electoral College will meet at their respective state capitals on the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December and formally cast their votes for President and Vice President.[14]
2028 U.S. presidential election
