The future Republican vice presidential candidate’s plane is currently parked in an undisclosed hangar, an empty spot on its fuselage for where a decal featuring his or her name will soon be placed. Fundraisers have been planned. All that’s left: an announcement from former President Donald Trump on who’s his pick. Senior advisers and longtime allies insist they still don’t know who the presumptive GOP nominee will choose to join him on the ticket — with many believing the choice is still in flux. The decision will come at an unprecedented time of upheaval in the presidential race. President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party continue to grapple with his dismal debate performance and the intensifying calls for the 81-year-old president to step aside in favor of a younger candidate. The Democrats’ crisis has given Trump little incentive to change the subject with a VP announcement that would be sure to draw a flurry of attention and focus to his pick. But Trump will have plenty of opportunities this week to ratchet up the speculation about a process that his team has kept extraordinarily close to the vest. Opportunities to announce Trump has two rallies planned. The first is scheduled for Tuesday evening at his golf club in Doral, Florida, near Miami. The primetime scheduling and location would seem to provide an ideal opportunity to unveil his pick if it is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Miami native who is one of his top contenders. On Saturday he’ll travel to the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania for an afternoon rally at the Butler Farm Show. The venue, outside of Pittsburgh, is not far from the border of Ohio, which is home to Sen. JD Vance, another potential pick. Also said to be on Trump’s short list is North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who has grown close to the former president since he dropped his own bid for the nomination before voting began. Trump doesn’t need a rally to unveil his pick. He could simply announce the news on his Truth Social platform at any moment between now and the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee on July 15. Or he could wait until the convention opens to make a grand, on-stage curtain reveal reminiscent of his days as the host of the “The Apprentice” reality TV show. Trump has repeatedly said he intends to unveil his pick just before or during the convention. But he has been coy about his choice. Late last month, before the debate, Trump told NBC News at a campaign stop in Philadelphia that he’d already made a decision. “In my mind, yeah,” he said. But less than a week later, he told a local Virginia television station that his decision was still in flux. “Well I have people in mind. I have so many good people. We have such a deep bench,” he said. “But we’ll be making a decision sometime early convention or before convention.” The front-runners say they don’t know yet “As President Trump has said himself, the top criteria in selecting a Vice President is a strong leader who could make a great President,” Trump adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement he has issued repeatedly. “But anyone telling you they know who or when President Trump will choose his VP is lying unless that person is named Donald J. […]
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