Donald Trump Jr. has been lobbying his father to select a running mate who can take a punch. Not only that but could hit back even harder, he told The Post.
“What I want in that role is I want a fighter,” Trump Jr. said. “I understand what they are going to throw at us.
“In 2016 you needed someone to balance out [the ticket] — that’s where Mike Pence made sense, sort of the yin and yang, but [given] the vicious nature of the swamp and the insanity we see on a daily basis, you need someone who can take those hits,” said Trump Jr., 46, the oldest of the former president’s five children.
It has been noted that the former first son who speaks to his father daily, often several times a day — said he’s been pushing people like Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio); Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and former GOP presidential candidate; and Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host who now hosts a program on X.
Trump daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner have both served in senior White House roles during his last term, but Trump Jr. said he and fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle, who also remains close to the campaign, had no plans on becoming a second “Javanka” in the West Wing — but that he’d “never rule anything out.”
Should his father retake the Oval Office, Trump Jr. said he plans to take a “very active” role in the 2024 presidential transition team, while Guilfoyle would remain focused on fundraising.
“Mostly just to make sure we stop some of the D.C. swamp rats and the swamp creatures from getting in there and doing their thing,” he said.
Trump Jr. was timid about who else he wanted around him during the transition but after some prodding, mentioned John Ratcliffe, a former director of national intelligence; and Cliff Sims, a former special assistant to President Trump, who also wrote a bestselling memoir of his White House years in 2019. “Team of Vipers.”
Both men were veterans of Trump Sr.’s first term — something Trump Jr. appeared to prioritize.
“There are so many great people to choose from now with the first four years of the administration you have a good understanding of who would be great and loyal and implement the America First policies,” he said.
