Americans everywhere have been following who Trump could choose as his running mate. Now the man of the hour has spoken.
And Trump made a VP announcement that completely changed 2024.
Thanks to the events of January 6th and everything that came after, Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence was never in the running in 2024.
He decided to not stand by Trump’s side, and now he is an outcast.
But his absence has left an obvious power vacuum that needs to be filled by somebody else, and former President Trump has played his cards close to the chest.
But with only half a year left, Trump needs to make his choice soon.
“I’ll be picking, but probably not too much before the convention, which I happen to be having in the great state of Wisconsin,” the likely Republican nominee told FOX 6 Milwaukee during a campaign stop in the battleground state on Wednesday.
The Republican National Convention will take place in Milwaukee from July 15 to 18. Traditionally, the vice presidential nominee addresses the delegates on the penultimate night of the event.
The 45th president, 77, also told the publication that being held in a Manhattan courthouse on allegations of hiding “hush money” payments hasn’t motivated him to rush the running mate selection process.
“I don’t think so,” Trump responded when asked if he needed someone else to campaign on his behalf.
“I think we’re getting the word out.”
He has spoken favorably of a wide range of possibilities but has not identified anyone as a clear top preference.
Behind the scenes, the veepstakes has been volatile, with competitors rising and falling quickly.
A source familiar with the conversation previously told the New York Post that biotech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy is almost certainly out of the running for vice president, while the former president’s allies said South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has “no shot” at the position after telling a 20-year-old story about k*lling her dog.
In a February call with fundraisers, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also said he would not be Trump’s running mate.
As he considers his options, Trump is hosting a large campaign event in Palm Beach this week, where he will be accompanied by several of the people who are supposedly still on his list.
According to Bloomberg, the former president has limited his options to four top contenders: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Republican Sens. JD Vance of Ohio, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
But the Trump campaign has made it clear that they have not made any decisions.
The Trump campaign pushed back hard against the reporting, with senior adviser Brian Hughes saying in a statement: “Anyone claiming to know who or when President Trump will choose his VP is lying, unless the person is named Donald J. Trump.”
Another senior adviser, Chris LaCivita, was more belligerent on X, writing in response to the Bloomberg scoop: “Notice to reporters: you should not make these kind of assumptions and then commit them to paper … they will only come back to bite you in the a*s.”
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
