Former President Donald Trump nominated for the presidency of the Republican Party about two months agoand for more than two weeks he has been a Criminal case in New York.
But he appears to be in no rush to name a candidate who can maintain a steady presence on the campaign trail while spending most of his time in the courtroom.
Trump’s team has not yet passed the preliminary stages of vetting vice presidential prospects, according to seven sources said he was familiar with the process. The top candidates did not receive detailed surveys or other information requests to help finalize the shortlists, although there are indications that they are being assessed for their ability to raise money.
A A May 15 event with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, however, Trump is not yet listening to potential picks one by one, as he did in 2016 just weeks before selecting Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Many of the VP candidates will join Trump this weekend in Palm Beach, Florida fundraising retreat can serve as a screening session.
Even so, “it’s going to be quiet for a while,” a Trump adviser said when asked about the search.
A source familiar with the investigation said that while Trump’s team has yet to directly contact prospects about the possibility of joining the ticket, the campaign has done preliminary in-depth research on them.
Sens. are among those whom Trump or others have admitted to being involved in the process. Marco Rubio florida, Tim Scott South Carolina and Vance; Govs. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Kristi Noem of South Dakota; Florida representatives Byron Donalds and Elise Stefanik New York; and Ben Carson, the Trump administration’s housing secretary. All but Carson are listed as “special guests” this weekend.
As always, Trump’s unpredictability is a wild card, both in the timing of the announcement and the way candidates can be added or removed from the mix.
A source close to one of the vice presidential prospects said the donor summit will be a measure of their fundraising talents — a data point that could be as instructive for Trump as anything that emerges in the traditional vetting process.
“This is certainly an opportunity for a collection of the most dynamic leaders of our common sense movement to showcase the winning message we need to end Biden’s weak and dangerously dishonest presidency,” said Brian Hughes, Trump’s senior adviser. “Those who financially support President Trump and his America First agenda will see that they helped save our nation with a victory in November.”
“Anybody who tells you who or when President Trump picked to be vice president is a liar,” Hughes added, “unless it’s Donald J. Trump.”
A Trump world source said so-called veepstakes are a frequent topic of conversation at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where he constantly questions his guests about their choices. However, another Trump insider said he is unlikely to move much as Trump defends himself against 34 fraudulent business records related to hush money payments made in the 2016 campaign.
“They can’t focus on anything other than his trial right now,” the person said.
On a brief return to the campaign trail that took him to the Midwest battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin on Tuesday, Trump complained that the court was stifling his campaign style.
“I have to do two of these things a day,” he said at a rally in Freeland, Michigan.
In Waukesha, Wisconsin, Trump said he felt no pressure to quickly name a running mate to appoint a No. 2 candidate to speak on his behalf while he was tied up in court.
“I think we’re getting the word out,” Trump said Interview with Milwaukee WITI-TV.
“I will choose [a running mate]but probably not much more than the convention I had in the great state of Wisconsin,” he said.
Trump stuck to that timeline when asked later in the interview if Burgum, Rubio, Scott and former House Democrat Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii were potential choices. (“All good names” allowed.)
“Typically, this is done around the convention, which is scheduled to begin on July 15 in Milwaukee,” Trump said. “I think we’ll make that decision around Wisconsin time.”
Despite the suggestion that Trump may want to move sooner, the “Wisconsin time” timeline would give him about two months to make his choice — and that would align with the timing of Trump’s past vice presidential picks, including picking Pence eight years ago.
Longtime lawyer AB Culvahouse conducted an extensive vetting process of Trump’s nominees, including Pence. Trump did not formally meet with Pence until the first weekend of July to discuss his prospects as his running mate.
He also tested his future vice presidents, including then-Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at rallies in the weeks before he made his decision. Pence joined him At an event in Indianapolis.
“By the way, how is your governor? ok? Yeah? I think so,” Trump said from the stage.
Days later he Pence announced as his choice.
Mark Short, who served as Pence’s Capitol Hill chief of staff, followed the selection process before becoming a senior adviser on the vice presidential campaign.
“For Trump, a lot of it is production value, but I think Trump was looking for complementary skills, not redundant skills,” Short said of a recent rally in Indianapolis, the day before Trump offered Pence the VP slot. “If you were there and you made a fool of yourself, it would definitely be a disqualification. But you can never outrun it, so it’s a fine line.”
Ryan Williams, a senior campaign aide to Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012, recalled a similar schedule for that year’s inauguration. Romney announced that he was elected then-Rep. Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan weeks before the August convention.
Williams noted a number of differences between that campaign and Trump’s bid this year, including a longer primary season for Romney, who is running against former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. in April. Romney received plenty of free media coverage as the political world speculated about candidates on his short list, including Christie and Rubio.
“Part of Veepstakes is media hype to get more attention for your candidacy,” Williams said. “Trump is different. “He already has all the attention he needs and he spends most of his time in the courtroom.”
Williams also suggested that Trump may run a “less structured” selection process than in past campaigns.
“Many of the names he submitted seem to have already been well-vetted,” Williams said. “Tim Scott and Marco Rubio have run for president before. In my opinion, it will go to Trump’s heart.”
There are other reasons it might not be in Trump’s best interest to make a choice now. Many of the candidates are regular viewers of Fox News and other programs, defend Trump, often described as a strong audience of one, and participate in the hearings, knowingly or unknowingly.
Just this week, Burgum, who was an independently wealthy software entrepreneur before becoming governor on Fox News made a move for billionaires to support Trump as the words “Feel the Burg” appeared on the screen. Scott It appeared on Fox News calling his gag order against Trump in the hush money case “disgusting.” And Stefanik went to a conservative news channel A college campus in the United States on foreign student visas labeled “anti-Semitic” has called for the deportation of protesters.
On Tuesday night, Noem and Vance took turns in prime time. For Noem, it was a bit of a cleaning act at Fox News – to defend the decision shooting and killing a family dog he described as “extremely dangerous.” She has come under fire after revealing the story in a soon-to-be-published book, raising questions about Trump’s chances of being elected.
Meanwhile on CNN Vance tensed about his interest in becoming Trump’s vice president, given the threats of deadly violence against Pence after he split with Trump and refused to block the 2020 election results from being certified.
“I highly doubt Mike Pence’s life is in danger,” Vance said.
“A few people said mean things? Of course,” he added. “But do we blame Donald Trump for every bad thing said by a participant in American democracy? I think this is an absurd standard.”
Why, one GOP strategist close to Trump’s world wondered, would Trump risk reducing the appetite and demand to be on TV by cutting some of his most influential allies out of the VP contention now?
“I think it’s going to happen sooner rather than later,” the strategist said, comparing it to Trump’s old reality show. “Trump likes the drama of ‘Lighthouse’-like hearings.”