Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign on Friday snubbed an Axios report about who might serve in a second Trump administration and blamed the supposed shortlists on “selfish efforts by desk hunters” via Mediaite.
In a statement, Trump campaign senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita wrote:
“Several weeks ago, Trump Campaign leadership released a memo about media speculation about Presidential transition efforts and a second Trump presidency.
Despite our being crystal clear, some “allies” haven’t gotten the hint, and the media, in their anti-Trump zeal, has been all-to-willing to continue using anonymous sourcing and speculation about a second Trump administration in an effort to prevent a second Trump administration.
Let us be very specific here: unless a message is coming directly from President Trump or an authorized member of his campaign team, no aspect of future presidential staffing or policy announcements should be deemed official.
Let us be even more specific, and blunt:
People publicly discussing potential administration jobs for themselves or their friends are, in fact, hurting President Trump…and themselves. These are an unwelcomed distraction.”
The statement went on to vow that “second term policy priorities and staffing decisions will not – in no uncertain terms – be led by anonymous or thinly sourced speculation in mainstream media news stories,” before concluding:
President Trump is solely focused on winning the Republican nomination for president and then defeating Crooked Joe Biden in the general election. He is not interested in, nor does he condone, selfish efforts by “desk hunters.” There will be an appropriate time to focus on such matters after winning next November, and it will follow President Trump’s lead.
The Trump campaign appeared to issue its statement in response to an Axios report published on Thursday morning, which listed an array of figures supposedly on Trump’s second administration shortlist.
The report noted by unnamed sources stated that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) are all supposedly on Trump’s shortlist to be his vice presidential candidate, while Melania Trump had reportedly been pushing her husband to pick former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The report also claimed that Carlson had been pushing Trump to pick his former chief strategist Steve Bannon as White House chief-of-staff.
Others listed in the report for potential roles in a second Trump administration included Wiles, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon – despite Dimon being both a Democrat and a supporter of Trump’s rival Nikki Haley.
