Former President Donald Trump has chosen freshman Ohio Sen. JD Vance to serve as his VP in his bid to return to the White House, ending months of speculation about whom he would select for his No. 2.
“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump announced on Truth Social on Monday afternoon. “J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association.”
Trump world insiders had long said the 78-year-old would choose someone based on “loyalty” and who would complement his strong personality but not overshadow him, who would raise money and be ready to serve.
“J.D.’s book, ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country. J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond,” Trump said in his Truth Social post.
The decision comes on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and two days after a gunman shot Trump in the upper ear at a Pennsylvania rally. The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, just missed Trump’s head, and fatally hit one attendee in the crowd.
Trump had teased his VP pick over the course of his campaign, first claiming he had chosen his running mate — but refusing to disclose any details.
The mercurial ex-commander-in-chief praised a wide range of candidates throughout the months and kept several allies close, maintaining the mystery surrounding his final choice until the final moment.
The first clues came in February, when Trump confirmed during a Fox News town hall that he was thinking about several possibilities, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, biotech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Nearly all the options on the “shortlist” had expressed openness to taking up the position — other than DeSantis, who said he would not be “doing that” one day after Trump’s declaration in audio obtained by The Post.
As the race went on, some new candidates rose to the top, while others were almost surely taken out of the running.
Sources close to the Trump campaign told The Post that Noem had tanked her chances after writing about killing her dog in her memoir. Ramaswamy was also confirmed as being out of the running early in the race. More recently, Trump insiders told The Post that Scott had dropped in the rankings.
In the week leading up to his announcement, sources close to Trump’s campaign told The Post that the former president was most likely to choose North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum or Vance.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was also still in the running as a top option, the sources said, but had a smaller chance.
The three candidates had fervently supported Trump and had stumped for him across the country in hopes of possibly clinching the nomination, joining him at rallies and the debate against President Biden.
Trump’s team maintained throughout that there was a plethora of candidates on the list — even some on whom the media wasn’t focused.
Upstate New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s longstanding support for the president throughout his re-election campaign and legal trials also sparked rumors that she was seeking the nomination. She stumped for the former president in New Hampshire and said she would be “honored” to be his veep.
Trump supporters in early-voting states told The Post over the course of the primaries that they would be open to a wide array of options, and ultimately were leaving the decision up to the former president.
Some additional names floated by voters included media personality Tucker Carlson, 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson, the Daily Wire’s Candace Owens, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former press secretary.
Trump’s VP may face off against Vice President Kamala Harris in a vice presidential debate, if the two campaigns agree to a network to host the forum.
Biden’s team has pushed for CBS News, while Trump’s campaign has held on to their Fox News VP debate acceptance.
The former president has said that his VP choice won’t push the polls one way or another, telling Fox News in January that “it’s never really had that much of an effect on an election.”
But as Trump faces some concern over his age — albeit not as much as Biden — a younger candidate could put some voters at ease.