Former President Donald Trump has cloaked his vice-presidential choice in secrecy while floating “teasers” for months. While four possible finalists have risen to the top of a long list, analysts still hold out the possibility of a surprise dark horse pick.
However, it’s possible that the 45th president could select a lesser-known, dark horse candidate for vice president (VP), such as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin or Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Doug Kaplan, president of Florida-based Kaplan Strategies, told The Epoch Times.
Now, days before the GOP’s nominating convention is to begin, the timeframe for the former president’s VP decision is narrowing.
Politicos consider this VP pick more consequential than usual because this particular nominee will be backing up a candidate who is 78 years old and facing sentencing on a criminal conviction and multiple other criminal cases.
Besides being ready to serve if the presidential candidate were unable to fulfill his duties for any reason, the VP pick could sway some voters based on his or her geography, personal traits, or qualifications.
The former president’s VP choice will also help mold a possible second Trump presidency and chart the future of the Republican Party, Mr. Kaplan said.
Anticipation Building
Former President Trump holds sole discretion over whom he’ll choose, along with how and when he will disclose that decision. His campaign staffers have said he could even decide to disclose the VP nominee via a post on his Truth Social platform.An announcement could come just before, or during, the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which will be held between July 15–18. A running mate must be named for GOP delegates to officially choose their presidential and vice-presidential nominees.
There’s a chance that the former president may disclose his selection at his next rally, set for July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, a battleground state.
Just before his last rally on July 9, in Doral, Florida, his campaign sent a text message asking supporters: “Will I announce my VP in 90 minutes?”
During his speech, the former president repeatedly made references to Mr. Rubio. Referring to clusters of news crews covering the Florida event, the former president said, “I think they probably think I’m gonna be announcing that Marco’s gonna be vice president because that’s a lot of press.” But then his speech continued—and concluded—with no such revelation.
Former President Trump told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade during a July 10 radio show that he would “love” to make his VP announcement “the old-fashioned way,” at the Republican National Convention.
But in recent decades, presidential candidates have named their running mates before each party’s nominating convention.
The timing of the announcement ought to be politically strategic, Mr. Kaplan said. He said it was wise for the former president to hold off on his VP declaration while the media spotlight has swirled around his Democrat opponent, President Joe Biden.
“If your enemies are fighting and imploding, you let them do that and do nothing. That’s, I think, what President Trump is doing right now,” Mr. Kaplan said.
He thinks that the former president probably would have made his VP announcement by now if President Biden wasn’t facing media scrutiny over his performance at the first presidential debate.
Weighing the Contenders
Among the four reported Trump VP finalists, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has been increasingly listed as the No. 1 contender, Mr. Kaplan said.Mr. Burgum, 67, hails from one of the nation’s least populated states. North Dakota is home to fewer than 1 million people. Lack of name recognition plagued his presidential run, which ended in December 2023.
Since then, he has become a fixture at Trump rallies and fundraisers. At a speech in New Jersey, former President Trump said he doubts anyone in the nation knows more about the energy sector than Mr. Burgum.
He’s a self-made billionaire, and his American success story gives him an affinity with the former president. That rise to success could appeal to voters, Nathaniel Gavronsky, a longtime political influencer from Iowa told The Epoch Times.
Compelling backstories also accompany each of the three senators vying for the VP slot.
Mr. Rubio, 53, is the son of Cuban immigrants, a characteristic that could attract more Latino voters to a Trump–Rubio ticket.
Mr. Scott, 58, who is black and could appeal to that bloc of voters, has noted that his grandfather was “forced out of school as a third-grader and never learned to read or write,” yet Mr. Scott became a U.S. Congressman. “Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime,” he told the Republican National Convention in 2020.
Mr. Vance, 39, ascended from Appalachian roots and obtained an Ivy League education, a dramatic tale chronicled in a bestselling memoir that became a 2020 Netflix film, “Hillbilly Elegy.” He won his 2022 election in Ohio after a boost from the former president’s endorsement.
Also in Mr. Vance’s favor is his friendship with the former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. The former president’s son says he also has a good relationship with Mr. Rubio and likes several of the VP contenders.
By contrast, Mr. Vance is only in his second year as a senator, begging the question of whether he is ready to lead.
Mr. Kaplan points out that media reports seem to be ignoring a significant factor: If President Trump wins reelection, any of the three senators serving as VP would become the “heir apparent, and they’re running for president by year two” of his second presidency.
That could make former President Trump appear to be even more of a “lame duck” as a president who could not serve an additional term, Mr. Kaplan said. He doubts that would happen with Mr. Burgum, making him “the safer pick,” Mr. Kaplan said.
Jeanette Hoffman, a political consultant who hails from New Jersey, concurs with Mr. Kaplan’s assessment of the purported finalists.
Like former Vice President Mike Pence, Mr. Burgum is “more mild-mannered” and unlikely to overshadow the former president, she said. The same might not be true of “stronger personalities like J.D. Vance or Marco Rubio.”
“Gov. Burgum would be compatible for President Trump on the VP ticket in both style and substance,” she told The Epoch Times. “Trump and Burgum are like-minded in their successful business backgrounds, yet when it comes to governing and policy, Burgum is more of a workhorse, whereas Trump is a show horse.”
She agrees with Mr. Kaplan that a dark horse surprise VP candidate could emerge.
Whichever contender gets the former president’s nod, one factor is essential, Mr. Kaplan said. He needs to pick someone “who will do no harm” to the ticket.
