Who will be Donald Trump's running mate? He has named 4 potential VP candidates

Former US President Donald Trump has dropped names of four potential running mates in the US presidential election.

Trump is the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for the 2024 US presidential election. He has so far not named his running mate and there is widespread speculation about potential contenders with several names doing rounds.

In an interview with News 12 New York, Trump said there are “so many” potential candidates for his running mates. He then went on to name four candidates who he said were doing “fantastic work”.

In nearly all surveys so far, Trump has higher ratings than US President Joe Biden. In the latest survey by Emmerson College conducted earlier this month, he leads Biden by 5%.

Who are Trump’s favourite picks for Vice President?

When asked to name top contenders for his running mate, Trump dropped four names.

Trump named Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Dr Ben Carson, Senator JD Vance from Ohio, and Representative Elise Stefanik from New York as his top picks.

Of the four, Carson has been most closely associated with Trump as he was his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in his first presidency.

In an interview with News 12 New York, Trump said he did not want to name top candidates as there were “so many”.

“Well, we have so many. I don’t want to do that — but we have so many! You could take people like Ben Carson, you could take people like Marco Rubio and JD Vance. I mean there are so many! Elise Stefanik is doing a fantastic job. But I can go on for quite a long time. We have many people that will do a really fantastic job,” said Trump.

Is Nikki Haley going to be in Trump’s cabinet?

After a fierce contest for the Republican Party’s nomination during which Nikki Haley denounced Trump repeatedly, there are signs that the two could be bridging their differences.

Earlier this week, Haley endorsed Trump in the US presidential election. Three days later, Trump said he thinks “she will going to be in our team”.

“We have a lot of the same ideas and same thoughts. I appreciate what she said. I know we had a nasty campaign, it was pretty nasty, but she is a very capable person and I am sure she is going to be on our team in some form,” said Trump.

Haley served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) during Trump’s presidency (2016-18), but she resigned midway. Then, last year, she launched her presidential campaign that she ended earlier this year. Then, earlier this week, she endorsed Trump in what many people saw as a sign that she could be seeking a place in a second Trump presidency, perhaps even a running mate ticket.

Could there be a wild card entry?

While Trump has dropped four names and there are speculations about Haley, there is another Republican leader who may have a wild card entry: Tom Cotton.

Cotton is a senator from Arkansas and is a US Army veteran.

Cotton has emerged as an unexpected “top candidate” for Trump’s running mate, according to The New York Times.

Trump has privately said that he sees Cotton as a reliable and effective communicator, as per the newspaper.

The report further said that the emergence of Cotton as a top contender shows that Trump is “heavily weighing experience and the ability to run a disciplined campaign over other factors”.