Former President Donald Trump has begun vetting eight Republicans as potential vice presidential candidates — but that hasn’t stopped a number of other potential picks from remaining on his radar.
Their supporters publicly lobby on their behalf. Some go on television to appeal directly to Trump. One remains a stalwart MAGA favorite. In another case, donors pressured Trump to pick their favorite Republican.
Trump is not expected to announce his choice until the Republican National Convention in mid-July, and his campaign has emphasized that Trump himself will be the only one to make the announcement, and that anyone who claims to know who he will choose will is. to lie.
“As President Trump himself has said, the most important criteria in selecting a vice president is a strong leader who will be a great president for eight years after President Trump’s four-year term in office,” said Brian Hughes, senior adviser to the Trump campaign.
With the stakes so high, many are trying to keep all options open. Here is a list of candidates who are not on the publicly known list and who could be seen as wildcards if they want to take another look one way or another:
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Haley, who dropped out of the 2024 presidential race in March, remains a favorite among some high-dollar donors and could help bridge the gap between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Hours after a New York jury convicted Trump on May 30, the former president attended a fundraiser in Manhattan and asked some of his wealthiest donors who they thought he should choose as his running mate, POLITICO reported. According to supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis, a GOP donor who attended the event, attendees cited Haley as someone who “could make a difference.”
Haley’s appeal is especially strong among voters with college degrees and suburban women — demographics Trump has struggled to win over. She came to represent the Trump resistance wing of the Republican party, so marrying her into the MAGA movement could help get the former president back into the White House. And she continued to draw voters in the Republican Party primaries even after withdrawing from the race, especially among suburban voters.
But Trump already said on social media that Haley was “not being considered.” The two still haven’t spoken, although Haley said she planned to vote for Trump in November.
“She would be a great choice as insurance for the world and the country and the Republican Party, to the extent that it still exists and hasn’t been completely co-opted by MAGA World,” former Trump White House counsel Ty said. Cobb, a friend and donor of Haley. “But I don’t think there’s any chance he’ll choose her.” I think she might accept it if she were seriously pressured just because of her sense of duty, but she can’t really be authentic as Trump’s No. 2.”
Government of Florida Ron DeSantis
DeSantis is still widely seen as one of the most natural heirs to the MAGA movement. During the presidential campaign, he always boasted that he had been more successful in achieving the “America First” agenda than Trump. And months after he dropped out of the presidential race, people who attend Trump’s rallies often praise him and say they wish DeSantis could be Trump’s No. 2. A recent Harvard-Harris poll also showed DeSantis as the favorite Republican to become Trump’s vice president. .
But DeSantis has made it clear he has no intention of toeing the line of Trump, or anyone else for that matter. Although DeSantis and Trump reached a public peace pact after a bitter primary — and DeSantis is now raising money for Trump — the former president has shown he is eager to shape Florida’s future after DeSantis is out of office in 2026. And DeSantis himself has openly acknowledged that. he has not ruled out running for president in 2028.
“They have mended the relationship,” said a person close to the Trump campaign who was granted anonymity to discuss the campaign. “It’s not what it was, but it’s much better than where it was six months ago. And it gets better every day.”
Some of the governor’s supporters still hope DeSantis has a shot at getting into the White House, even if not as president.
“I would love it if President Trump would give him another look,” said Roy Bailey, one of three finance chairs of DeSantis’ presidential campaign. “DeSantis certainly isn’t doing anything to make that happen. This is something that has to happen organically, naturally and for the right reasons.”
Bailey said he knew DeSantis was focused on his work in Florida, but he also saw how Republican voters might envision a 12-year string of conservative victories as the two men pursue similar policies.
“If President Trump wants his policies to continue to move forward because they secure his legacy, then perhaps it would make sense for him to choose a great leader like DeSantis, whose policies are so closely aligned with this,” Bailey said.
DeSantis donor Robert Salvador agreed that DeSantis and Trump would make a great couple, but doubted the two would ever share a ticket — though he could see them working closely together.
“DeSantis and Trump were aligned far more often than they were not aligned,” Salvador said. “The only time they really weren’t aligned was in the primaries and leading up to them. Furthermore, they are very similar in terms of policy.”
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem
Noem’s book tour across America is a lot like an audition for vice president. But the South Dakota governor’s ambitions likely died after she wrote in her book that she deliberately shot her dog — a revelation that led to days of negative coverage of Noem.
Yet she still seems to be applying for the veep job. In media interviews, she often says she has been loyal to the former president – a trait he is known to value. She pointed out during a stop in Palm Beach in May that she was one of the people closest to Trump who refused to enter a race against him, a tacit swipe at others whose names have been put forward for the VP -key lock.
Noem’s prospects were already bleak before the dog killing incident became public, POLITICO previously reported. Allegations surfaced in conservative media that she had an extramarital affair with former Trump campaign chairman Corey Lewandowski. Noem denied the allegations, calling them a “disgusting lie.”
“The Corey Lewandowski thing was a problem,” the person close to the Trump campaign said. ‘She’s quite small. The book just turned her off a bit.
But last Sunday, Noem was on CNN urging Trump to choose a female running mate.
“I have told President Trump time and time again that he must choose who helps him win. “I have been loyal to him since the very beginning, when he first started running in 2016. He has told me his priority is choosing a running mate who can rule on day one,” Noem told CNN.
She added: “According to the polls I’ve seen for him, in a lot of swing states, it makes a difference to have a woman helping him on the campaign.”
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders
As the first woman to serve as governor of Arkansas, many see Sarah Huckabee Sanders as the perfect compliment for Trump, allowing him to appeal to suburban women, a voting bloc that Trump has struggled to win over.
She played it coy, saying in an interview that she “absolutely” loves her current job, but that has done little to quell speculation that she is yearning for a return to the top spot with a national profile.
“She’s a tough woman,” said Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of Republican Main Street Partnership, a group that works to elect moderate conservatives. ‘She is conservative, but she is not a deeply conservative person. And I think women will say, ‘Oh, she’s a great choice.’
Huckabee Sanders is also someone who knows Trump well, having served as a confidante and perhaps his most effective communicator during her years as White House press secretary. She is also popular with the grassroots.
‘There is no learning curve, she knows [Trump] well and knows how to help him … or when to be the face of a particular policy issue,” said Alex Stroman, former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party.
The governor also received high marks in 2023 after she delivered the Republican rebuttal in the president’s State of the Union address, in which she castigated Joe Biden for being subject to “woke fantasies.”
Others add that she is one of the best choices the party can rely on to take on Vice President Kamala Harris in a potential VP debate and immediately nullify any perception of a gender advantage the Democrats may have.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin
Trump and Virginia’s governor met last week amid speculation that the former president wants to expand the electoral map, with the campaign trying to put Virginia into play this cycle.
A person close to Youngkin, who was granted anonymity to discuss the meeting, said the governor and Trump did not discuss the vice presidential slot. But Trump told Fox News last week that Youngkin is “great” and will consider him as a potential vice presidential pick.
“I wasn’t asked that question, but he would be on that list,” Trump said of Youngkin.
Youngkin’s appeal could extend beyond the MAGA base.
“I think he’s a strong enough communicator and he’s proven he can win in a tough state,” said Lanhee Chen, a policy adviser to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) during his two presidential campaigns. “So I think for all these reasons you should seriously look at him as an option.”
