Donald Trump Pours Cold Water on Report About VP Search

Former President Donald Trump denied a report on Saturday that said former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is under consideration to be his vice president pick.

Trump and President Joe Biden became the presumptive 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential nominees respectively in March following a series of primary wins. Since Trump clinched the presidential nomination, it has sparked renewed speculation about who his vice-presidential pick could be leading to several prominent names being thrown in the mix.

However, Trump has given no real indication, beyond offering small heaps of praise to certain people and ruling out any chance he would pick Mike Pence again after their relationship fell apart in the wake of the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Earlier on Saturday, Axios first reported that Haley, a former South Carolina governor, is said to be under active consideration by Trump’s campaign to be his running mate as the news site wrote, “Republicans close to both campaigns believe it’s in Haley and Trump’s mutual interests to reconcile” following their rivalry during the GOP primary.

However, the former president took to Truth Social, his social media platform, on Saturday to deny the report.

“Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well! DJT,” he wrote.

Since Trump’s social media post, Axios updated its report by writing that Trump “stepped in and nixed the idea.”

Newsweek has reached out to Trump and Haley’s campaign via email for comment.

While names such as South Dakota’s Republican Governor Kristi Noem and six others may be considered as his potential running mate, Trump has said he will likely pick his vice president choice close to the Republican National Convention in July.

In an interview with Newsmax in March, Trump suggested he had ruled out “some people” as potential running mates because they hadn’t “behaved properly.” He also said he has some candidates in mind “that you may know very well.”

Meanwhile, Haley and Trump often criticized each other during the GOP primary.

Haley, Trump’s former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, had ramped up her criticism of the former president in the weeks leading up to Super Tuesday, calling him unfit for the office and predicting that he would lose the general election to Biden.

Haley has not endorsed Trump since dropping out of the race following Super Tuesday’s results in March.

Trump has also criticized Haley as he previously stated in February before voters were set to cast their ballots in South Carolina’s GOP primary that Republicans “aren’t supporting her, they don’t like her, and they don’t like her policy.”

In addition, he previously said she would not be chosen as his vice president because she is not “presidential timber.”

“She is OK, but she is not presidential timber. And when I say that, that probably means she is not going to be chosen as the vice president,” Trump said during a rally in New Hampshire in January.

According to Axios on Saturday, if Haley were to be considered for vice president she would be able to offer her ties to donors who are wary of Trump. In addition, it reported that a reconciliation with Haley would also help the former president attract a specific group of voters that have kept voting for her in primaries even after she dropped out.