President-elect Trump says he doesn’t think Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will name his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to succeed Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida in the Senate.
“No, I don’t. I probably don’t. But I don’t know,” Trump said Monday as he took questions from reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. “Ron’s doing a good job. That’s his choice – nothing to do with me.”
Trump last month announced that he would nominate Rubio, the three-term senator from Florida and a senior Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, to serve as secretary of state in his incoming administration.
TRUMP PRESSES DESANTIS TO NAME DAUGHTER-IN-LAW TO SUCCEED RUBIO IN SENATE
President-elect Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Since then, the president-elect and some top Trump allies have recommended that Lara Trump, who from March until a week ago served as Republican National Committee co-chair, fill the next two years of Rubio’s term in the Senate.
DeSantis has said he’ll make a decision on the Rubio Senate replacement by early next month.
DESANTIS SETS TIMETABLE TO NAME RUBIO SENATE SUCCESSOR
Trump on Monday praised his daughter-in-law, saying, “Lara’s unbelievable. She was incredible. The job she did at the RNC…. she is so highly respected.”
And he added that Lara Trump is highly sought after.
Lara Trump speaks to the media following a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 21, 2024. (Brandon Gillespie/Fox News)
“I also know that Lara got so many other things. I mean she’s got so many other things. People want her to be on television. They want to give her contracts,” Trump said. “She’s got so many other things that she’s talking about.”
The president-elect also praised Rubio, but added, “He leaves a vacancy in Florida and Ron’s going to have to make that decision. And he’ll make the right decision.”
Former President Trump shakes hands with Sen. Marco Rubio during a campaign rally on Nov. 4, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Sources have confirmed to Fox News that Trump told DeSantis that he would like to see his daughter-in-law succeed Rubio. But Republican sources in Florida suggest that DeSantis is more likely to name someone who’s held public office in the Sunshine State.
And Lara Trump, in interviews with Fox News and the AP, has said she would “seriously consider” serving Florida in the Senate.
DeSantis, a one-time Trump ally who clashed with the former president last year and early this year during a very contentious 2024 GOP presidential nomination race, mended relations a bit with the former president after the primary season, as he endorsed Trump and helped raise money for the Republican nominee’s general election campaign.
Gov. Ron DeSantis holds multiple storm preparation news conferences on Oct. 7, 2024, as Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida. (Office of Florida governor)
“Florida deserves a senator who will help President Trump deliver on his election mandate, be strong on immigration and border security, take on the entrenched bureaucracy and administrative state, reverse the nation’s fiscal decline, be animated by conservative principles, and has a proven record of results,” DeSantis said last month.
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And he noted at the time that “we have already received strong interest from several possible candidates, and we continue to gather names of additional candidates and conduct preliminary vetting. More extensive vetting and candidate interviews will be conducted over the next few weeks, with a selection likely made by the beginning of January.”
The formal confirmation process for Rubio by his fellow senators won’t kick off until after Trump is sworn into office on Jan. 20.
