Former President Donald Trump has chosen freshman Ohio Sen. JD Vance to serve as his No. 2 in his bid to return to the White House, ending months of speculation about who he had chosen for his VP.
Trump world insiders had long said the 78-year-old would choose someone based on “loyalty” and someone who would compliment his strong personality, but not overshadow him, raise money and be ready to serve.
The decision comes on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and comes two days after a gunman shot Trump in the upper ear at a Pennsylvania rally. The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, nearly missed Trump’s head, and fatally shot one attendee in the crowd.
Trump had teased his VP pick over the course of his campaign, first claiming he had chosen his running mate — but refusing to disclose any details.
The mercurial ex-commander in chief praised a wide range of candidates throughout the months and kept several close allies close, keeping the final choice a mystery until the final moment.
The first clues came in February, when Trump confirmed during a Fox News town hall that he was thinking about several possibilities, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, biotech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Nearly all the options on the “short list” had expressed openness to taking up the position — other than DeSantis, who said he would not be “doing that” one day after Trump’s declaration in audio obtained by The Post.
As the race went on, some new candidates rose to the top, while others were almost surely taken out of the running.
Sources close to the Trump campaign told The Post that Noem had tanked her chances after writing about killing her dog in her memoir. Ramaswamy was also confirmed as being out of the running early on in the race. More recently, Trump insiders told The Post that Scott had dropped in rankings.
In the week leading up to Trump’s announcement, sources close to Trump’s campaign told The Post the former president was most likely to choose North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum or Sen. JD Vance (R-OH).
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was also still in the running as a top option, the sources said, but had a smaller chance.
The three candidates had fervently supported Trump and had stumped for him across the country in hopes of possibly cinching the nomination, joining him at rallies and the debate against President Biden.
Trump’s team maintained throughout that there was a plethora of candidates on the list — even some that the media wasn’t focused on.
Upstate New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s longstanding support of the president throughout his re-election campaign and legal trials also sparked rumors she was seeking the nomination. She stumped for the former president in New Hampshire and said she would be “honored” to be his veep.
Trump supporters in early-voting states told The Post over the course of the primaries that they would be open to a wide array of options, and ultimately were leaving the decision up to the former president.
Some additional names that were floated by voters included media personality Tucker Carlson, 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson, the Daily Wire’s Candace Owens, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former press secretary and Arkansas governor.
Trump’s VP may face off against Vice President Kamala Harris in a vice presidential debate, if the two campaigns agree to a network to host the forum.
Biden’s team has pushed for CBS News, while Trump’s campaign has held on to their Fox News VP debate acceptance.
The former president has said that his VP choice won’t push the polls one way or another, telling Fox News in January that “it’s never really had that much of an effect on an election.”
But as Trump faces some concern over his age — albeit not as much as Biden — a younger candidate could put some voters at ease.
