President Trump said that his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, would be a great candidate for the Senate seat in North Carolina to replace Sen. Thom Tillis (R), who recently said he would not seek reelection.
When pressed on whom he would want to run for Tillis’s seat, President Trump replied, “somebody that would really be great is Lara, she grew up there.”
He added that Lara and his son, Eric, live in Florida but continued to tout her for a Senate bid, while also speculating that a member of the House will run for the seat.
“But they live in Florida, they have a very good life and they’re great people. She did fantastically running the RNC. She’s even got a show that’s, it’s like the number one show,” he said, referring to his daughter-in-law’s weekend show on Fox News.
Trump’s daughter-in-law is considering a potential Senate bid in North Carolina, a source confirmed to The Hill, and she was weighing her options in the wake of Tillis’s announcement Sunday.
“She’s a great person, Lara Trump. I mean, that would always be my first choice, but she doesn’t live there now,” Trump added. “But she’s there all the time, her parents are there. You know, she really knows North Carolina well. I won it three times. I don’t know who the candidates are going to be. I think you’ll have one of the congressmen step up and should do very well.”
The president added that he hasn’t spoken with his daughter-in-law about the seat. She served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) during the 2024 campaign and focused on fundraising efforts.
Lara Trump, a North Carolina native who graduated from North Carolina State University, was previously floated as a potential Senate candidate when former Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) retired. She opted not to launch a campaign for the seat but left the door open to a future run for office.
Tillis’s stunning retirement announcement came after he said he would oppose the president’s megabill, which passed the Senate earlier on Tuesday.