Donald Trump , the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination , has finally disclosed the person he is considering for vice president .
After months of speculation on whom the former president would choose, in an interview with Fox News, Trump confessed that Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota are presently on the shortlist to be his running mates, per Independent .
“We have some many good people in the Republican Party,” Trump shared with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. “I called Tim Scott and I told him ‘You’re a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself,’” he added.
Scott supported Trump last month after ending his presidential campaign in the Republican primaries in early November. Trump continued by saying that Noem, who gave Trump her endorsement at the beginning of September, is another candidate he is thinking about running with. “Kristi Noem has been incredible fighting for me,” he said of the governor. “She said ‘I’d never run against him because I can’t beat him.’ That was a very nice thing to say.”
On Sunday Morning Futures , Noem refuted claims made by Bartiromo that Trump had approached her about partnering with him. “We talk all the time, but we’ve never had that conservation,” she said.
During a Fox News town hall last month, Trump made hints that he had already selected his vice president, but he wouldn’t say who it would be. Numerous individuals have been mentioned as viable choices, such as millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy from the biotech industry and the last Republican nominee, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley .
T he New York Times predicted that Ramaswamy makes the most sense for Trump’s running mate, and many campaign tactics by Ramaswamy suggest the same. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and conservative pundit who ran as the most Trump-friendly “America first” contender in the GOP field, withdrew from the 2024 contest and backed Trump immediately after. With the conclusion of his campaign, Ramaswamy began his next chapter as an outspoken spokesperson for Trump, per ABC News .
“We are in the middle of a war in this country,” Ramaswamy said after suspending his campaign, suggesting the country is divided between “those of us who love the United States of America and a fringe minority who hates this country and what we stand for.” He said, “And right now we need a commander-in-chief who will lead us to victory.”
“I’ve been a friend of his even though we were competing against each other,” Trump said, returning the praise. “But I was a friend of his and we got along and … I kept saying, ‘Why is he running? He keeps calling me a great president.’ But he’s a fantastic guy, a very smart guy. He’s got some tremendous ideas.” Trump even hinted at a working relationship, saying, “He’s going to be working with us for a long time,” Trump said, as the crowd chanted “VP, VP, VP.”