NEW YORK Over the weekend, both legitimate and social media celebrated the potential expansion and contraction of the list of vice presidential candidates who could be listed alongside the name of the Republican former president Donald Trump on the ballot in November.
Sen. Marco Rubio of the United States, whose 2016 presidential rivalry is most remembered for a back-and-forth debate with Trump regarding the size of his appendages, would legally have to move from Florida to be Trump’s second choice, but he is purportedly currently leading the field from certain perspectives.
And Nikki Haley, Trump’s lone vanquished 2024 challenger not to have thrown her support behind the party’s presumptive candidate for a third straight presidential election, is nonetheless reportedly has been getting a fresh look. Were that true, it’s likely her continued strong showing in GOP primaries, despite having quit the race months ago, would likely have been a catalyst. Trump, however, indicated on his proprietary social platform DJT, -6.25% that this notion is, for him, a nonstarter.
Naturally, Trump is still stranded in the courtroom hearing sensationalized accounts of an extramarital affair he refutes and for which he is alleged to have written a six-figure check to conceal from the public during the final days of the 2016 campaign.
However, Trump’s dominance in the party—even among his erstwhile rivals—was clearly visible in Florida recently when he hosted a private fundraiser at his home and membership club that resembled a running-mate audition.
At one point, Trump brought a number of the candidates onto a stage at Mar-a-Lago, treating them like contestants in a beauty pageant he used to run. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, and Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York were among those who swarmed the Sunday news shows the following day to offer their congratulations.
‘[E]very one of them thinks they could be chosen, which I guess possibly is so.’
Donald Trump
“This weekend, we had 15 people. … They’re all out there campaigning,” Trump told Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin on Tuesday. “It might actually be more effective this way because, you know, every one of them thinks they could be chosen, which I guess possibly is so.”
That comment perhaps illustrates why Trump is in no rush to pick his potential second-in-command or publicly winnow his choices. For now, the presumptive GOP nominee is happy to revel in the attention as reporters parse his choices and prospective candidates jockey and woo him in an “Apprentice”-style competition.
Trump has said he intends to make an announcement shortly before July’s Republican National Convention, as he did when he picked then–Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in 2016.
Pence, also Trump’s running mate in 2020, has stated publicly he has no intention of endorsing Trump this time around, saying Trump has displayed a clear willingness to place himself about the U.S. Constitution.
“In the end, it’s up to [Trump]. He will intuitively decide who should be his vice president, and he’ll listen to everybody up until that moment and then he’ll decide,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, one of three finalists on Trump’s 2016 list.
He stated that if a candidate receives a call from Trump asking them to speak at a rally, “the correct answer is yes.”
However, their impact is limited. “I never thought it worked that well,” Gingrich remarked, “but some of them try to audition.”
Currently, a number of individuals acquainted with his thought process claim that Trump is considering a lengthy list of potential candidates, which includes senators, governors, and members of Congress who have faced his opposition in the past. The participants discussed the fundraiser and private talks while maintaining their anonymity. Trump is keeping an eye on who can effectively defend him, raise money, and perform at political events while he considers his options. He’s particularly curious about their television persona.
Part of what seems to have made the decision harder is that many of the candidates under serious consideration have knocks against them.
Rubio, one potential top contender, could help Trump win over Hispanic voters as well as establishment donors still leery of a second Trump term.
But Rubio has a problem: He lives in Florida, the same state as Trump, which would violate the Constitution’s 12th Amendment.
Trump himself has raised the issue, including at Saturday’s fundraising luncheon, where he said he liked Rubio, according to one of several people present, but noted the issue with his residency, calling it a problem.
Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a friend of Trump’s eldest son who has become close with the former president, is also considered a top contender. He impressed Trump allies with a CNN interview last week.
But Trump continues to note that Vance was a critic before he became a supporter — something he mentioned again at the Saturday event before praising Vance as a great senator. Vance pivoted to the Trump camp as he sought the former president’s endorsement in a bruising primary in 2022.
Scott, who Trump has repeatedly joked is a far better surrogate than a candidate, also has drawbacks. Scott pushed Trump to back a 15-week national abortion ban during the GOP primaries and his selection would draw new attention to something Trump has tried to eliminate as a campaign issue by insisting it should be left to the states.
Others have seemed keen to test the limits of what it takes to be disqualified.
‘In the Trump era, what used to be a scandal is no longer a scandal and what used to be seen as a liability is not really as much of a liability.’
Kevin Madden, Republican strategist
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has faced a media storm since reports emerged that she she wrote about shooting a family dog to death in a book released this week. Noem has also been caught in errors, including falsely claiming that she once met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. She has continued to appear in interviews defending her actions, drawing the storyline out for days.
Trump, in his Tuesday interview, continued to praise Noem, who at one point had been considered a top contender, though he acknowledged that “she had a rough couple of days, I will say that.”
Noem’s star, in fact, had been tarnished before the revelation of her dog killing amid questions about her judgment, including her decision to appear in an infomercial-style video lavishing praise on a team of cosmetic dentists in Texas.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, meanwhile, has also been the subject of negative headlines. A recent audit suggested that her office may have broken the law when it purchased a $19,000 lectern — a scandal dubbed “lecterngate” by some.
Sanders, who served as Trump’s press secretary at the White House, responded with Trumpian defiance, posting a 20-second video on X featuring the blue and wood-paneled lectern. The opening lyrics of Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement” played in the background, and the words “come and take it” appeared on the screen.
Sanders may still have to answer more inquiries because her travel and security records are still being audited. However, her unrepentant reply served to further solidify her reputation as a Trump brand acolyte.
According to Kevin Madden, a senior adviser to former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, “what used to be a scandal is no longer a scandal and what used to be seen as a liability is not really as much of a liability in the Trump era.” “Trump is capable of obstructing the sun.”
In previous election cycles, candidates such as Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton—who has called on the public to “take matters into your own hands” if they come across pro-Palestinian demonstrators obstructing traffic—may have benefited from making controversial remarks.
Senior campaign adviser Brian Hughes stated via email that “anyone claiming to know who or when President Trump will choose his VP is lying, unless the person is named Donald J. Trump.”
Trump continues to maintain publicly and privately that the “most important thing” in a potential pick is whether they would be a good president if called upon — and that he doesn’t think the choice is likely to change the trajectory of the race.
“VPs have never really helped in the election process,” he has said of late. “It’s a one-day story, it’s a big story, and then it’s back to work. They want to really know who’s No. 1 on the ticket.”
