Getty; BI
- Top Republicans have declared Trump to be the GOP's presumptive nominee.
- The former president will now face competing pressures to find his new running mate.
Former President Donald Trump and his allies want to turn the page to the general election.
His double-digit win in New Hampshire Tuesday night and his strength in the remaining early states effectively means former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is running out of options. She'll also have to grapple with the reality that top GOP officials increasingly want the primary to be over.
This leaves one major decision left for Trump: selecting a running mate. True, such selections normally occur far later in the calendar season. But the story of this entire primary, besides not being much of a story at all, is how it has thrown out the traditional playbook. There's also some budding pressure for Trump to make his pick, so Republicans can turn their focus toward the general election.
Trump is no longer the political neophyte he was when he tapped then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to join him in July 2015. He has strengthened his grip on the GOP after a hostile takeover and the systematic targeting of most of the remaining old-guard members.
It doesn't mean this decision will be easier.
Pence has described how Trump endangered his family on January 6, 2021, as then-president continued to lash out at the nation's No. 2 even as rioters stormed the Capitol. There's a long history of presidential neglect and disrespect toward the vice presidency. John Nance Garner, FDR's first VP, famously deemed the post a "warm bucket of spit." Needless to say, Trump's treatment of Pence before and during the Capitol riot vastly exceeds any of that.
Then again, many Republicans who expressed outrage during the siege of the US Capitol have later come around to endorsing Trump. And in the modern era, there are few greater perches to launch or relaunch your national ambitions than to be the highest-ranking apprentice.
Here's a look at the names to watch as Trump continues his quest to retake the White House:
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley
Haley in Hampton, New Hampshire on January 23, 2024. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Haley, who has remained clear her campaign will continue, has repeatedly said she's not interested in being anyone's vice president. Trump's choice of Mike Pence illustrates that he could tap someone to unite the party, but it's clear the former president is nowhere near happy with how that marriage ended.
Haley's biggest strength would be her effort to appeal to independent voters. She could also hopefully repair Trump's long-running struggles in the nation's suburbs. It's clear, though, that her decision to keep campaigning is starting to grate on Trump.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina
Scott on stage with Trump in Laconia, New Hampshire on January 22, 2024. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The 58-year-old three-term senator endorsed Trump shortly before the New Hampshire primary. The South Carolinian also largely avoided criticizing Trump in a way that may have foreclosed him being on the ticket.
Polls showed GOP primary voters liked Scott almost as much as his Senate Republican colleagues. It's worth noting that while the former president has a growing list of congressional allies, the Senate has repeatedly been an issue for him.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida
DeSantis in Derry, New Hampshire on January 17, 2024. Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Trump and his allies spent over a year ruthlessly attacking DeSantis. It was only toward the end of his disappointing primary that the 45-year-old began to return fire.
DeSantis did endorse Trump immediately after dropping out before New Hampshire, but the question remains if either side would want to repair their political alliance. He has also endorsed conservative policies like a 6-week abortion ban that would cause major headaches in a general election.
Sen. JD Vance of Ohio
Vance at the Capitol on November 14, 2023. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Despite having just been elected to the US Senate last year, Vance has repeatedly been floated as a potential vice presidential candidate for Trump.
And he's not saying no.
"Certainly if the president asked, I would have to think about it," Vance recently said while stumping for Trump in New Hampshire — though he also said that the "best place for me" is to remain in the US Senate.
A former venture capitalist and the author of the bestselling book "Hillbilly Elegy," Vance was once a "NeverTrumper" and a fierce critic of the ex-president. But he has since morphed into one of his staunchest acolytes in the Senate, and he's at the vanguard of a movement that seeks to reorient the party more towards the working class.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Greene at the Capitol on January 11, 2024. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Greene, the fire-breathing conspiracy-minded congresswoman from Georgia, wouldn't exactly be a tent-expanding choice for the former president.
But that hasn't stopped her from talking up her own prospects.
"It's talked about frequently and I know my name is on a list," Greene told The Guardian in August. "But really my biggest focus right now is serving the district that elected me."
A second-term legislator with no major policy accomplishments, Greene wouldn't bring much to the equation when it comes to policy chops or broadening Trump's appeal. In fact, it could damage the ticket, given her extremely poor polling.
But there's little doubt that a portion of Trump's base would be happy with such a selection, if he decided to go that way.
Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York
Stefanik at the Capitol on September 13, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The chairwoman of the House GOP Conference, Stefanik is the highest-ranking official who is seen as a potential Trump pick.
The New York congresswoman, who ascended to her leadership position on the heels of Liz Cheney's ouster, has notably undergone a sharp shift when it comes to Trump, beginning with the 2019 impeachment hearings.
Trump has reportedly described Stefanik as a "killer" and a potential pick in private, and the congresswoman recently said she "would be honored to serve in any capacity in a Trump administration."
2022 Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake
Lake campaigning for Trump in Des Moines, Iowa on January 15, 2024. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Lake, a former broadcast journalist whose devotion to Trump is unparalleled among Republicans, is technically running for another job right now: the US Senate seat in Arizona currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
But that hasn't quieted any speculation about her joining Trump on a presidential ticket.
Lake has quickly risen to become one of Trump's most willing surrogates, stumping for him in states like Iowa despite having her own race to run.
She also narrowly lost the 2022 gubernatorial election in Arizona to now-Gov. Katie Hobbs, and much like Trump, she has continued to claim that the election was stolen from her.
Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota
Noem at a rally in Rapid City, South Dakota on September 8, 2023. Scott Olson/Getty Images
The second-term South Dakota governor, perhaps best known nationally for flouting COVID restrictions during the pandemic, is perhaps the most likely pick for Trump's VP at this point.
When recently asked about the prospect, Noem wasn't that shy about it: "I think anybody in this country, if they were offered it, needs to consider it," she said on CBS earlier this month.
Popular with the base while bringing four years of governing experience, Noem would provide gender balance to the ticket while also satisfying Trump's desire for loyalty.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia
Youngkin at an event in Washington, DC on September 26, 2023. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Youngkin, 57, unlike the other governors on this list, has shown he can win a competitive state. The former private equity maven shocked political pundits by narrowly winning the Virginia governor's race in 2021. But Youngkin won in large part by ignoring Trump.
The Virginian's political stock has also declined in the wake of disappointing state legislative elections that saw Democrats gain full control of the statehouse in Richmond. Trump might honestly be more concerned that Youngkin has ties to Jeff Roe, a former Cruz advisor, who left Youngkin's orbit to lead a pro-DeSantis super PAC that ended disastrously.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas
Sanders delivers the GOP response to the State of the Union address on February 7, 2023. Al Drago/Getty Images
No one on this list knows Trump like Sanders. As his second White House press secretary, Sanders turned her turn at the podium into a governorship. As Arkansas governor, she's pursued an array of conservative policies.
She has endorsed Trump's campaign, but she has hinted that she wouldn't be interested in returning to the White House as vice president.
"Look, I absolutely love the job I have. I think it's one of the best jobs I could ever ask for, and I am honored to serve as governor, and I hope I get to do it for the next seven years," Sanders told CBS News.
Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa
Reynolds at an event for DeSantis in Council Bluffs, Iowa on January 13. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Few states drifted further to the right under Trump's presidency than Iowa. But Reynolds, who gave the GOP's official response to Biden's 2022 State of the Union address, is likely out of favor in Trumpworld after endorsing DeSantis.
Trump repeatedly tore into Reynolds in the closing days before his historic Iowa caucus blowout win. He's also suggested that state Attorney General Brenna Bird should lead Iowa someday in the future.
Reynolds is a two-time incumbent who is also a former head of the Republican Governors Association, a perch that some former occupants have used to catapult them onto the national stage.
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy
Ramaswamy at an event in Des Moines, Iowa on January 15, 2024. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Like some other candidates on this list, Ramaswamy is unlikely to be chosen as Trump's next VP. But that doesn't mean there aren't people out there who would like to see it.
Ramaswamy was perhaps the only candidate in the race who never dared to issue substantive criticisms of Trump, choosing instead to run as a staunch supporter of the former president who would carry that mantle forward.
He dropped out immediately after coming in 4th in Iowa, endorsing Trump and likely securing himself some sort of future position in MAGA world, if not Trump's actual cabinet.
But while Ramaswamy would be popular with some of Trump's most devoted followers, his penchant for conspiracy theorizing would likely be a liability in a general election.
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