Trump names U.S. Senator from Ohio as his vice presidential nominee

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump remains stuck in a New York courtroom listening to salacious details of an extramarital sexual encounter he denies. But another spectacle is playing out as his vice presidential tryouts get underway. The dynamic was on full display in Florida over the weekend at a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club that doubled as a VP audition. Trump at one point invited many of the contenders to join him onstage and talked them up one by one. Trump is closely watching the candidates, turning his search into an “Apprentice”-style competition being judged on fundraising hauls, political speeches and television interviews.

NEW YORK (AP) — As former President Donald Trump remains stuck in the courtroom listening to salacious details of an extramarital sexual encounter he denies, another spectacle is playing out in the background as his vice presidential tryouts get underway.

The dynamic was on full display in Florida over the weekend at a closed-door fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago club that doubled as an audition featuring a long list of potential running mates. Trump, at one point, invited many of the contenders on stage like contestants in one of his old beauty pageants. The next day several of them, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, fanned out across Sunday news shows to sing his praises.

“This weekend, we had 15 people. … They’re all out there campaigning,” Trump told Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin on Tuesday (May 7, 2024). “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.”

The comments demonstrate 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.

“In the end, it’s up to him. 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.

For candidates, he said, if Trump calls and asks them to speak at a rally, “The correct answer’s ‘yes.’” But there are limits to their impact.

“Some of them try to audition,” Gingrich said, “but I never thought it worked that well.”

For now, according to several people familiar with his thinking, Trump continues to mull a long list of prospects: governors, senators and members of Congress, including some who ran against him and lost. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the fundraiser and private conversations. As Trump mulls his decision, he is watching to see who can raise money, defend him effectively, and perform at political events. He’s especially interested in how they come across on television.

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. JD 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.

Scott, whom 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.

Those issues could help a candidate like Burgum, a billionaire who has traveled extensively with Trump since he dropped his own presidential bid.

Others have seemed to test the limits of what it takes to be disqualified.

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 face more questions, with an audit of her travel and security records pending. But her unapologetic response reinforced her image as an acolyte of the Trump brand.

“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,” said Kevin Madden, who was a senior adviser to former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. “Trump has an ability to block out the sun.”

Provocative comments that could have been a liability in past election cycles could also be assets for candidates like Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who has urged the public to “take matters into your own hands” if they encounter pro-Palestinian protesters blocking traffic.

“Anyone claiming to know who or when President Trump will choose his VP is lying, unless the person is named Donald J. Trump,” senior campaign advisor Brian Hughes said in an emailed statement.

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 said Tuesday. “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.”

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Vice presidential candidates typically aren’t tapped until after a candidate has locked down the nomination. But former President Donald Trump’s decisive win in the Iowa caucuses and the departure of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from the race on Sunday (Jan. 21, 2024) has only heightened what had already been a widespread sense of inevitability. That has given the visits this past week by New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, as well as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the feel of tryouts for the role reminiscent of Trump’s days as a reality TV host. All three are considered close allies of the former president who are among those being considered for the job.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — As she addressed a crushing crowd of volunteers and media at Donald Trump’s New Hampshire headquarters on Saturday, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik received a welcome chant.

“VP! VP! VP!” one man shouted across the room.

While vice presidential candidates typically aren’t picked until after a candidate has locked down the nomination, Trump’s decisive win in last week’s Iowa caucuses and the departure of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from the race have only heightened what had already been a widespread sense of inevitability that he will be the Republican nominee. That has given the campaign trail stops by Stefanik and other Republicans the feel of a public tryout reminiscent of Trump’s days as a reality TV host.

Many Republicans covet a spot on the presidential ticket with Trump as a chance to serve in a high-profile role that has elevated many ambitious politicians from relative obscurity.

That interest comes despite the fate of Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence. For four years, Pence was Trump’s most loyal defender, advocating for him at every turn. But in the final months of their administration, Trump turned on Pence, casting him as disloyal for refusing to go along with his unconstitutional effort to block President Joe Biden’s win.

Pence’s role in certifying the 2020 election not only threatened his life during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol but also sidelined his political career. He would end his own bid for this year’s GOP presidential nomination in October after failing to get traction. Many of Trump’s supporters still believe the former president’s lies about the election and view Pence as a traitor.

The Trump campaign has held several events in both Iowa and New Hampshire with high-profile surrogates.

Beyond serving as opportunities to display their loyalty and star power to Trump’s team, the events serve as a reward for volunteers as well as a recruiting tool that brings in new faces, senior Trump officials said.

Stefanik joined Trump on stage at his Friday night rally in New Hampshire and stopped by his campaign headquarters the next morning to thank volunteers and make calls. In both appearances, she stressed that she was the first member of Congress to endorse Trump’s comeback bid.

“I’m proud to be one of his strongest supporters, particularly at key moments,” she told reporters. Asked if she would consider being his running mate, Stefanik said, “Of course I’d be honored, I’ve said that for a year, to serve in a future Trump administration in any capacity.”

Others who have appeared in Iowa and New Hampshire on Trump’s behalf include Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Lake was at a rally Sunday night taking pictures with supporters and holding a baby in the crowd.

Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy appeared with Trump on stage in New Hampshire a day after dropping out of the race, also drawing “VP” chants from the crowd as he delivered a fiery speech.

And at the same rally where Stefanik spoke, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Trump’s former rival in the presidential race, announced his enthusiastic endorsement in what sounded like his own audition.

“We need Donald Trump!” said Scott, leading the crowd in an impassioned call-and-response full of the fervor many of his own campaign appearances seemed to lack. Trump stood behind him grinning.

Trump, too, has been stoking the speculation, saying during a recent Fox News town hall that he already knows “who it’s going to be.” He told Fox News host Bret Baier over the weekend that ”there’s probably a 25% chance” that he would ultimately pick the person he had in mind, adding: “The person that I think I like is a very good person, pretty standard. I think people won’t be that surprised.”

Jason Miller, a senior campaign adviser, declined to address vice presidential prospects or speculation about potential running mates. But he said those who have campaigned on Trump’s behalf in Iowa and New Hampshire “have drawn massive crowds and have all done a fantastic job of energizing voters to turn out for President Trump. So we’re very happy and very excited with both the jobs that they’ve all done but as well, the reception that they’ve all received,” he said.

Trump has been talking through potential choices since well before he formally launched his campaign, throwing out names, peppering friends and Mar-a-Lago members for feedback, and keeping a close eye on those jockeying for the post.

In those conversations, he has often indicated his interest in selecting a woman. Allies also say that while loyalty — and having a dependable attack dog who can effectively defend him — is paramount, Trump is also cognizant that he would enter a second term as a lame duck president and wouldn’t want a second-in-command who might overshadow him with immediate 2028 speculation.

Among those considered high on the list is Stefanik, a member of House Republican leadership who has seen her profile rise after her aggressive questioning of a trio of university presidents over antisemitism set in motion two of their resignations.

Mindful that aggressively angling for the job risked backfiring, the once-Trump critic has tried to position herself as a trusted ally of the former president, defending him in both of his impeachments and filing an ethics complaint in New York against the judge hearing his civil fraud case.

During a recent appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Stefanik referred to those imprisoned for crimes committed on Jan. 6 as “hostages.”

At a roadside country western saloon last week in the small town of Kingston, Vance, the senator from Ohio, offered a robust endorsement of Trump to a small crowd seated on bar tables nestled between whiskey barrels.

Vance once called himself a “never-Trump guy” and labeled Trump an “idiot.” But like so much of his party, he has rallied to Trump’s side. He says the two are now “very close” and talk “all the time.” And while he said he would “help out however I can” if he was offered the vice presidential ticket, he said Trump would also need allies in Congress.

“I think that’s the best place for me is to actually be an advocate of the agenda in the United States Senate. But certainly if the president asked, I would have to think about. I want to help him out in however I can,” he said.

Vance said he wouldn’t pretend to give Trump advice on the decision, but that Nikki Haley, Trump’s last remaining major Republican rival, would be a poor choice. “Stefanik’s great. Kristi Noem’s great. I think all these people are great. Tim Scott’s a very, very good dude and would make a great vice president,” he said.

Trump has already effectively ruled out Haley. He said at a rally in Concord last week that his former U.N. ambassador is “not presidential timber.”

Haley is staunchly opposed by many in Trump’s “MAGA” base, including his son, Donald Trump Jr., who said he would go to “great lengths” to prevent her from being offered the job.

Other potential contenders mentioned by Trump allies include Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former press secretary, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who recently endorsed Trump after dropping his own White House bid, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Susan Ingrahm-Kelly, 64, from Bedford, New Hampshire, visited Trump’s campaign headquarters to see Stefanik in person Saturday and raved about the congresswoman’s questioning of Ivy League presidents.

“Oh, I think she’s fabulous!” she said. “I absolutely love what she did, this whole thing with the Harvard.”

Ingrahm-Kelly, who is leaning toward voting for Trump on Tuesday, said she also likes the idea of another woman vice president. “I like to see strong, educated, articulate women, don’t we? I think she’s fantastic.”