Trump aides mull Apprentice-style VP reveal at convention

Donald Trump’s aides are discussing having the former president reveal his running mate on stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday night, according to two people familiar with the planning.

The planning is still fluid, aides stressed. The finalists are expected to be at the convention, and if Trump decides to keep quiet over the weekend, there could be a reality show-style reveal on the convention’s opening night.

It would be a dramatic end to his monthslong casting call for a running mate.

The choice remains so closely held that even his top advisers insist they remain uncertain about who Trump will pick.

“Nobody knows,” said one Trump campaign official. The official echoed, with insistence, the same response campaign staff have given for months. “For the record I don’t know who it is!” top Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita posted on social media, mocking the press for speculating about Trump’s decision.

Speaking on "The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show" on Thursday, Trump hinted that he’s eyeing a convention reveal.

“I’d love to do it during the convention, or just slightly before the convention, like Monday,” Trump said.

Multiple Trump officials and advisers interviewed for this story were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

“The campaign has provided all the information he needs to make his decision, and we are all in agreement that it's his decision to be made,” said a second Trump campaign official, “and whenever that decision is made we are ready to go.”

Trump is facing an increasingly tight deadline to announce his running mate. The GOP convention in Milwaukee starts on Monday. Officials with the Republican National Committee have yet to say when a roll call vote will be held to officially nominate Trump’s running mate — but the former president must announce before then.

“It’s like a highly sophisticated version of 'The Apprentice,' if you think about it,” Trump said Thursday on the Clay & Buck show, explaining he had narrowed it down to “four or five people,” but declining to specify if he had made a final decision. He said he is looking at the final contenders in “great detail,” but that his decision is “more of an instinct.”

“I have some really good candidates,” Trump continued. “I may be leaning one way, and that changes sometimes. All of a sudden you see something that you like or you don’t like, and you lean a little bit differently.”

Sens. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida, as well as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who are widely believed to be the final contenders in the running mate contest, are each expected to address party faithful at the convention — regardless of who Trump picks. Trump on Thursday also mentioned that he was pleased with Sen. Tim Scott’s performance in a television interview the day before. Eight Republicans were once on Trump’s short list.

Trump has only one campaign event remaining before the convention: a rally Saturday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which has prompted guesses that Trump might make the news there — as well as observations that the rally location is not far from Vance’s Rust Belt turf in Ohio.

However, as of Friday, Burgum, Vance and Rubio were not scheduled to be at the Pennsylvania rally, according to two campaign officials.

At a rally Tuesday in Miami, Trump teased that many of the reporters in attendance had expected him to announce Rubio as his running mate.

Trump famously makes decisions based less on traditional political strategy and more off his instincts as both a showman and unpredictable businessperson. Back in 2016, Trump continued to waffle over his decision to pick Mike Pence as late as the night before he made his running mate reveal in New York. He has had little imperative to move quickly this year, content to keep focus on the unfolding crisis surrounding President Joe Biden’s campaign after his poor debate performance last month.

Once Trump makes his announcement, the campaign is prepared to quickly print signs and merchandise emblazoned with Trump and the name of whomever he picks. And a private plane for the potential running mate, called “Trump Force Two,” is currently parked and ready at an undisclosed hangar, according to one of the campaign officials.

In the meantime, Trump has appeared to enjoy toying with the public — and his potential picks — over the “who” and “where” of his decision.

“It increases the excitement,” said former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally. “Plus, if you're watching your opponent fall apart, why get in the way? Woodrow Wilson once said, ‘Never murder a man who is in the process of committing suicide,’ and you're watching Biden and the Democrats drift into a civil war. Why get in the way?”

Bill White, a donor and longtime friend of Trump, said he believes Trump has already chosen his running mate, and has shared it with a maximum of two people.

“The only person who knows at the end of the day is him, and I think the only two other people who’d know right after him, when nobody else knows, are his wife and Susie Wiles,” White continued, noting Trump’s fondness for Wiles, one of two of his top campaign advisers.

But another person close to Trump noted that the former president has had ample time this week in between meetings and rallies to still be swayed.

“If you're an adviser, this is probably the worst time for Trump because he has downtime and he can continue to get input from friends and anyone he encounters at his club,” the person said.

While Rubio appeared with Trump on Tuesday in Florida, Burgum addressed Trump campaign volunteers in Michigan that evening, speaking by video call at a “Trump Force 47” training, an appearance that was set up by the campaign and RNC, according to a person familiar with the plans.

Staff of Scott, who was long mentioned as a major contender for the role, but who has faded from the spotlight in recent weeks, has remained in contact with the Trump campaign on matters of fundraising and communication, according to another person with knowledge of the situation. Trump has not given Scott any indication about his decision one way or the other, the person said. Scott is expected to speak at the convention.

Trump’s running mate is scheduled to address the convention on Wednesday night.

Trump, at least publicly, has continued to bring up Vance, Rubio and Burgum. In a Fox Radio interview Wednesday, Trump both praised and expressed reservations about Rubio and Burgum, while complimenting Vance’s appearance as a “young Abraham Lincoln.” He denied a report this week that Trump’s distaste for beards would disqualify Vance.

While complimenting Rubio’s performance at Trump’s rally the night before, Trump on Wednesday said the constitutional issues that could arise from both men being Florida residents — Rubio would likely have to resign from office and relocate to a new state — “makes it more complicated.”

“There are people that don’t have that complication,” Trump said, though adding it still doesn’t rule out Rubio.

On Burgum, Trump told host Brian Kilmeade that he is a “great guy,” but conceded that the six-week abortion law Burgum signed in North Dakota is “an issue,” describing it as “a pretty strong ban.”

“I think I’m pretty well set in my own mind,” Trump said, when asked if there are any remaining contenders besides Rubio, Vance, Burgum and Scott. “But, you know, you got some good people, and I have changed a little bit, but they’re all great.”

Further scrambling things are questions about Biden’s political fate. Trump told Fox News on Monday night that questions within the Democratic Party about Biden’s candidacy have also impacted his thinking, and he wanted to wait and see if Vice President Kamala Harris is his rival instead.

With Trump coming up against the clock to make his decision, some prominent conservative leaders and allies of the former president have made last-minute pitches for their preferred candidate, or, in other cases, merely against one they don’t like.

That includes Donald Trump Jr., who recently announced on his podcast that he supports Vance as Trump’s running mate.

Others have taken swings at running mate candidates they don’t like, such as Family Research Council President Tony Perkins bashing Rubio this week, and Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, sharing an X pollhe conducted that showed few of his followers wanted Burgum.

White said he is imploring Trump supporters with strong feelings about the running mate selection process to quickly accept whoever Trump decides.

“Whoever President Trump picks as his vice president, what we all should say as a chorus of love and support is, ‘Oh, my God, I couldn’t have imagined a better choice,’” White said.

And other Republicans are still viewed as possible contenders. During an appearance on "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Trump should consider someone like Scott, his longtime friend and ally who is Black and could help expand the map. But he acknowledged the case to be made for the other three men currently in the mix, and added in one other person.

“But somebody that’s not being talked about that should be, in my view, is [Glenn] Youngkin from Virginia,” Graham said. “If we win Virginia, we win. It is over. So I'm hoping President Trump is looking for a VP pick that not only can carry on the American first agenda after he leaves, but also win in 2024.”

Jonathan Martin contributed to this report.