Title: Trump Makes Most of ‘Veepstakes’ Intrigue in Search for Running Mate - WSJ
In reading the WSJ article at bottom, it immediately occurred to me that the answer to the question of who Trump will pick as VP is readily at hand, as the answer to Trump’s question to Israel Hayom (Miriam Adelson/Netanyahu):
Quote: "Netanyahu on Wednesday updated Senate Republicans on the status of the war and criticized Schumer, as multiple lawmakers reassured him that they strongly disagreed with Schumer’s critiques.
“You know, we’re trying to tell them how to fight a war,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), describing Netanyahu’s reaction to Schumer’s remarks. “They didn’t try to tell us how to fight World War II, or Iraq, or Afghanistan.” (The end of World War II, in which the United States and allies fought Nazi Germany and Hitler’s efforts to exterminate Europe’s Jews, predated the creation of Israel by three years.)
. . .
"In his remarks, which included a question-and-answer session, Netanyahu acknowledged that he was speaking to “a friendly audience,” Tuberville said, given Republicans are “100 percent” behind him while Democrats are raising objections. And the prime minister said he intended to follow through with Israel’s plan to eliminate the remaining battalions of Hamas fighters, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said — which Israeli officials have said are in the crowded city of Rafah."
"Among Republicans, Netanyahu’s name is invoked as a most admired “national or world leader” as often as Ronald Reagan’s.”
And that was before Trump elevated Israeli fascists up to co-belligerents with the U.S. in his "shadow war” against Iran, and encouraging them to accelerate genocidal policies against Palestinians under the Israeli Settler he chose as Ambassador to them!
At the risk of seeming impolitic if this hits too close to home for some, it’s also why it’s “all hands on deck” in promoting Trump as next POTUS by most if not all “right-leaning” commentators, from libertarian to National Conservative, by everyone associated with the U.S. Oligarchs who are part of the Israeli Military Industrial Complex System, with its many “component parts” included in that. Which includes the Charles Koch Network, Peter Thiel, and Miriam Adelson. Whether by the commentators in a “shadow campaign” of omission in hiding all that Trump did to escalate war against “Russia/China/Iran/Venezuela” as Phase Zero of WW III (which Biden has carried on for the most part, as a Goldwater Democrat), or by “historical revisionism” in presenting “Traditional Conservatives” as standing for “restraint” historically. That is, the ones like Burnham, Buckley, and Kendall who despised Eisenhower for his policy of “containment” versus their demand for rollback, even at the risk of nuclear war (more on that later).
PALM BEACH, Fla.—As a blockbuster $50 million campaign fundraiser here was winding down, Donald Trump quieted a crowd of more than 100 of the most influential Republican donors and handed the microphone to Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
But there was another buzz running through the crowd last Saturday at the mansion of the billionaire who hosted the evening: Could one of the three men emerge as Trump’s running mate?
Trump is making the most of the veepstakes, asking guests of his Mar-a-Lago Club here who they like. He is also monitoring the soft auditions—such as the fundraiser speeches—of those thought to be in the mix. People close to Trump say he is enjoying the speculation and feels no pressure to decide quickly. No one person has an inside track, people close to the former president say, and the contest could run up to the GOP convention in July.
“You’re not the kingmaker once you make the king,” said a Trump insider.
President Biden and former President Trump both see Pennsylvania as a must-win state in the 2024 election. WSJ’s Shelby Holliday talked with voters, officials and campaign managers across the biggest swing state of the 2024 election to learn about how each candidate could win—or lose. Photo illustration: JJ Lin
There is an additional level of intrigue around Trump’s 2024 running mate: Because Trump could only serve another four years, his partner on the ticket would be seen as an early favorite for the 2028 presidential race.
“I think the list is growing rather than shrinking. I think he wants somebody who is not going to upstage him and understands it’s the supporting role of a second banana,” said a person who speaks regularly with Trump. “That’s one thing Mike Pence did well.”
Brian Hughes, a Trump senior adviser, said: “If any person tells you they know who or when President Trump is naming his VP, that person is lying, unless the person is Donald J. Trump.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) competed against Donald Trump in 2016, but the two men since have built a relationship. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The vetting is continuing, people close to Trump say, and some GOP operatives are coming to the campaign with some intriguing angles.
People championing Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) have described to Trump officials how the campaign might navigate the issue of having a ticket with two people from the same state. That would trigger obscure constitutional and Electoral College issues that could be pivotal in a close election. It is risky but not prohibitive, the Rubio backers have pointed out.
The thinking has gone as far as to whether Rubio—or in theory, Trump—would move his official home to another state. Rubio lives in Miami. In 2019, Trump changed his primary residence from New York to the Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach.
Electoral College voters are prohibited from voting for two people from their home state. So if the November contest is tight, Trump could be denied some electoral votes.
Someone probably would have to change his state residency. That is what happened when Dick Cheney ran as the vice president with fellow Texan George W. Bush. Cheney changed his official residence to Wyoming, which he once represented in Congress, and Bush got all the electoral votes from Texas.
Rubio’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment about the VP process, but the senator in interviews has previously played down speculation. He was critical of Trump in the 2016 GOP presidential primary, but the two men since have formed a strong relationship and share interest in many issues, such as a focus on the working class and domestic manufacturing.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum competed against Donald Trump in the primary and is now being scouted for the vice-presidential slot. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
According to people familiar with his thinking, Trump has said he views Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and known in the party as a skilled orator, as a potentially potent advocate in crucial states. Those include Nevada, where Rubio spent part of his childhood. Several people approached Trump at a March fundraiser in Miami and put in a plug for Rubio, according to people who attended.
The pros and cons and Electoral College complexities of a Trump-Rubio ticket have been discussed, including with Trump, these people said. “It’s conversations and pretty well documented research,” said one of them, emphasizing that the senator hasn’t been involved.
The same-state dynamic would apply to another person on Trump’s list: Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a rising figure closely aligned with the MAGA movement.
The VP spreadsheet is elastic but generally includes a trio of governors: Burgum of North Dakota; Kristi Noem of South Dakota; and Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas. Besides Rubio, other senators in the mix are J.D. Vance of Ohio, Katie Britt of Alabama and South Carolina’s Scott.
Former Housing Secretary Ben Carson has been considered by Trump’s campaign as has Ramaswamy. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is being looked at, and Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic representative from Hawaii, has intrigued some in Trump’s orbit as a possibility.
Trump has mused about the star power of a ticket with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent, but that isn’t taken seriously by the campaign, according to people familiar with the discussions. Kennedy last week told the New York Times he isn’t interested. Trump recently hit Kennedy as a radical liberal.
South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem is reportedly among a group of governors on Donald Trump’s running-mate list. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
The former president hasn’t settled on whether he prefers a man or woman or someone with a diverse background, people familiar with his thinking say. He wants someone who won’t make mistakes and looks the part, these people said, and he also wants someone who will help him win.
“The first quality has to be somebody that you think will be a good president because if something should happen, you have to have somebody that’s going to be a great president,” Trump said during a February Fox News forum in South Carolina. “A lot of people are talking about that gentleman right over there.”
He was referring to Scott, a popular figure among Republicans nationally but whose 2024 presidential campaign didn’t catch fire. Scott put his compelling life story growing up as a Black man in the South at the center of his campaign, and he remains a running-mate contender, people close to Trump say.
Trump is also using the process to keep supporters engaged. On Thursday, his campaign sent a blast email that proclaimed, “My next VP will be….”
Opening the message revealed not the name of who will share the ticket with Trump, but a chance to offer a recommendation—and make a donation to the campaign.
