President-elect Donald Trump is confident that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will choose the right replacement for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), whom Trump tapped to serve as secretary of state, he said during a Monday press conference at Mar-a-Lago.
When asked if he expects DeSantis to tap Lara Trump as Rubio’s replacement, Trump said he does not expect it.
“No, I don’t. I probably don’t, but I don’t know. Ron’s doing a good job. That’s his choice. Nothing to do with me,” he said before praising Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, as “unbelievable.”
“She was incredible, the job she did at the RNC chairman, along with Michael Whatley, the combination,” he said, noting that Lara Trump is “highly respected by women.”
“And, you know, it’s funny, people oftentimes talk about nepotism — I never had, when I put her there, people said, ‘How did you get her to — you know, she could have run for the Senate in North Carolina,’ Ted Budd would be the first to say,” Trump remarked, explaining that Lara Trump wanted to focus on her children. But as the election got closer, he asked her to work with the RNC.
“And they did such an unbelievable job, especially on cheating, they stopped it, or at least, they stymied it — too big to rig, and we won in a landslide. You know, we won tremendously. She did an amazing job,” he said, expressing confidence that DeSantis will choose the right replacement for Rubio, whom he described as a “star.”
“Marco has been really a star already, and we haven’t started. But, you know, we see signs of — from some people, or very early, we see signs of stardom, and Marco has done incredibly. He’s sort of born for it. It was such an easy decision,” he said, acknowledging that the nomination leaves a vacancy in the Sunshine State.
“Ron’s going to have to make that decision, and he’ll make the right decision. I also know that Lara’s 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. You know, her predominant thought is our country and her family. Those are her thoughts,” he said, casting doubt that she would be the next senator from Florida for those reasons.
“But she’s got so many other things that she’s talking about. He’ll make the right decision,” Trump said of DeSantis.
WATCH the press conference below:
Lara Trump sparked speculation earlier this month when she stepped down as RNC co-chair.
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