JR. CONTENDERS
Pick a fighthin' VP, son urges
Donald Trump Jr. is lobbying his father to select a running mate who can take a punch — and 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 former President Donald Trump’s five children.
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 has a program on X.
Trump daughter Ivanka and sonin-law Jared Kushner 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 presidential transition team, while Guilfoyle would stay on fundraising.
Transition thoughts
Trump Jr. was coy 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 the president, 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 . . . who would be great and loyal and implement the America First policies,” he said.
Trump Jr.’s father recently warned President Biden that indicting a former president would be a two-way street should he return to the White House.
“[Biden] opened up a Pandora’s box that will never let our country be the same. I can only say to Joe: Be very careful what you wish for, but what you have done is a terrible thing,” the former president thundered at the New York Young Republicans gala in December.
But his son dismissed the fire and brimstone rhetoric as “jokes.”
“He’s going to lead the country the way it’s supposed to be led,” Trump Jr. assured. “His retribution will be success for our country.”