Running mates mingle at Mar-a-Lago

Donald Trump hosted a lavish fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago home at the weekend that doubled as an audition for those hoping to be his vice-presidential running mate in the race for the White House.

The lead contenders to join him on the Republican ticket took the chance to mingle with donors and politicians in an effort to impress. After a months-long shadow campaign to catch the former president’s eye, JD Vance of Ohio, Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina, all senators, have emerged as the favourites.

They are followed by Elise Stefanik, a congresswoman for New York, and Byron Donalds, a representative of Florida, along with two governors, Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Kristi Noem of South Dakota. All seven attended the Mar-a-Lago event.

Trump has indicated that he will announce his running mate by July, before the Republican national convention, when he will be crowned as the party’s nominee for president.

He addressed the audience and delighted in pitting the contenders against each other in the style of his reality show The Apprentice. “I’ve got 50 people calling me, begging me: ‘I’ll cut off my right arm, sir. Please, I want to be the vice-president.’ These are ambitious politicians,” he said.

Vance, a venture capitalist and author of the bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, is the favourite, despite denouncing Trump as “an idiot” and “America’s Hitler” in 2016. Vance rebuilt bridges to secure Trump’s endorsement for the 2022 Senate race and is now a staunch loyalist.

Noem has campaigned aggressively for the vice-presidential slot, but her stock has fallen after revealing in a forthcoming book that she shot and killed her dog for misbehaving, and claiming – falsely – that she faced down Kim Jong Un during her time in Congress.

Scott and Rubio are touted for their appeal to black and Latino voters, as Trump makes inroads into President Joe Biden’s support among these voters.

Some urge Trump to pick a woman as the party struggles to define its position on abortion.