MILWAUKEE – Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) emerged as the winner of a high-suspense race to become Donald Trump ’s running mate.
But it is Donald Trump Jr. who won the behind-the-scenes fight for his father’s ear.
Trump Jr. had spent months correcting what he calls the “lies of omission” from Republicans who wanted to keep Vance from becoming vice president.
Trump narrowed his short list to a handful of possible running mates, but the warring factions withheld details from the former president, he said, which hurt the chances of their favored candidate.
“I was just constantly having to be the guy to put things back into check and perspective,” he told moderator Mike Allen on Tuesday at an event hosted by Axios at the Republican National Convention.
Trump Jr., who had personally lobbied for Vance, ultimately won that battle. On the convention's first day, Trump announced that the senator would be his running mate, sending both the ticket and party in a populist direction.
But just as consequential was what the choice said about Trump Jr.’s influence as a sea of advisers and outside actors seek to guide the former president’s decision-making.
Vance had important allies in his corner, among them ex-Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson and entrepreneur Elon Musk. But Trump Jr.’s unique access to his father allowed him to steer the conversation back to Vance each time boosters for the other leading contenders, Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) and Sen. Maro Rubio (R-FL), had Trump thinking twice about his decision.
At one point, Trump Jr. showed his father a Breitbart article in which Karl Rove, viewed with suspicion in Trump world, endorsed Burgum, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Burgum had also received the support of Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul who slighted Trump when he backed Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) bid for president.
“There were a lot of forces sort of pushing the other way. I think, for me, what's nice about me and our family – I’m not on someone's payroll, unlike most of the people in politics, and they're pushing for a specific reason,” Trump Jr. said.
“They're not honest brokers. There's not many of them in politics,” he added.
Trump Jr. painted the picture of a son trying to keep the “swamp creatures” from leading his father astray.
However, Trump Jr. readily acknowledges that he also had a dog in the fight. He’s developed a close relationship with Vance since his Senate run in 2022 and viewed him as the best Republican to carry forward Trump’s “America First” agenda.
“I think there’s a lot of overlap in how they operate and see the world,” said one Republican in Vance’s orbit who described their friendship as “transcending” transactional politics.
Trump Jr. has spent years carving out his own place in the conservative movement. He’s plugged into the media ecosystem, delivering red-meat commentary through his Triggered podcast. At the same time, he’s campaigned for candidates who embrace his father’s brand of conservative populism.
“Don basically views his role in the movement and in the party as being the guy who helps build the America First bench for the future,” said one source close to Trump Jr.
However, the selection of Vance demonstrates the even greater role Trump Jr. could play in a second Trump presidency.
Asked on Tuesday if he plans to help his father with a presidential transition if he wins in November, Trump Jr. said he hopes to have “veto power” over the hundreds of officials who would need to be appointed.
“I don’t want to pick a single person for a position of power,” he said. “All I want to do is block the guys that would be a disaster.”
“I want to block the liars. I want to block the guys that are pretending they’re with you,” he added.
Trump has operated his campaign in much the same way he governed. During his first term, he relied heavily on his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner to take on a ballooning policy portfolio that included his efforts to broker peace deals in the Middle East.
Just this last week, he spent hours with Trump Jr. writing his nomination speech.
But a source close to Trump Jr. argued the blood relation only goes so far in convincing the former president on matters of policy and personnel.
“I don’t think it’s actually that simple. He is family, but he, over time, has shown to have really good instincts,” the source said of Trump Jr.’s relationship with his father.
“I don’t think his dad necessarily trusted his political instincts six years ago, seven, eight years ago, the same way as today,” the source added.
Trump Jr. was not alone in convincing his father to choose Vance as his running mate. The former president, known for bouncing ideas off everyone in his orbit, was calling up allies until the morning of his announcement as a gut check.
“He wanted to make sure he made the right decision,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said of his conversation with Trump on Monday.
It’s also possible that in another political universe, one in which Trump wasn’t comfortably leading President Joe Biden in the 2024 race, he might have gone with a less ideologically aligned pick.
Sens. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Rubio had been considered, in part, for their appeal to minority voters.
But there is no question the early interest Trump Jr. took in Vance helped propel him to the nomination. He supported Vance’s 2022 Senate run at a time when he was an unknown to his father and laid the groundwork for Vance to earn the former president’s endorsement.
That support helped bring Vance to the U.S. Senate and, eventually, Trump’s presidential ticket.
“It's no secret that Don weighing in on VP was very beneficial for J.D., but it shouldn't be seen as Don weighing in was determinative for J.D.,” said the Trump Jr. source.
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Vance, for his part, made tactical decisions that reduced his perceived flaws as a running mate. To rebut the perception he would have trouble fundraising, he organized a Silicon Valley fundraiser for Trump in June that netted $12 million.
But the consensus among sources that the Washington Examiner spoke to is that no one, not even Trump Jr., knew for certain whom his father would pick for vice president until he announced it.
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