Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, announced Sunday night that she will step down as a co-chair of the Republican National Committee amid mounting speculation that she could be picked to fill a coming Senate vacancy.
Trump, who became co-chair of the RNC in March with her father-in-law’s backing, said Sunday on X that she intends to step down at the RNC’s next meeting after she completed her three goals for the organization.
“At the RNC, we had three distinct goals: 1) surpass all fundraising records 2) build the largest army of lawyers and poll watchers to ensure election integrity and, 3) turn out millions of Americans and low prepencity voters during early voting. We accomplished all three,” she wrote in the post.
The RNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Sunday.
Trump’s name has been floated as a possible replacement for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, of Florida, whom the president-elect has said he will nominate to be secretary of state. Several allies of the Trump family have named her as someone they’d like to see fill the seat, and she herself has not rejected the possibility.
“If I am tapped to serve in another capacity, it truly would be my honor,” she told Fox News last month. “I have not been asked yet, but I certainly would strongly consider it if it is presented to me.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a former political rival who ran against Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, will get to choose Rubio’s replacement. DeSantis is also reportedly being considered as a replacement for Pete Hegseth, the embattled choice for defense secretary. A source told NBC News last week that the president-elect and DeSantis directly spoke about the issue.
“Trump talked to the governor and wants him to do it,” a source familiar with the conversation said.
NBC News reported last week that Hegseth’s nomination is in jeopardy because as many as six GOP senators are wavering in their support for him amid allegations of drinking and reports about his treatment of women.
Hegseth, who has vowed not to withdraw as Trump’s pick, has denied that he mistreated women and has said the encounter with the woman who accused him of sexual assault, with whom he later reached an undisclosed settlement, was consensual. He did not respond when he was asked about the drinking allegations Tuesday evening.
Matt Dixon, Courtney Kube and Rebecca Shabad contributed.
