Trump's VP deployment, convention planning complicated by Biden's woes as former president seeks to regain center stage

CNN —

Donald Trump is entering a critical period of his presidential campaign in an unfamiliar place: far from the spotlight.

Over the next 10 days, the former president will announce his running mate, hold two campaign rallies and kick off a Republican convention in Milwaukee where he will officially become the party's presidential nominee for the third time in eight years.

But the rollout of Trump’s summer plans has been overshadowed by the dramatic fallout from President Joe Biden’s lackluster debate performance and a Democratic Party gripped by a crisis over its expected nominee. While the Trump campaign was happy to sit back and watch Biden and his allies bogged down over the holiday weekend, the former president is quickly approaching a marquee period in which he planned to be the center of attention.

But that is no longer the case, and his campaign is now trying to figure out how to maximize the deployment of his vice presidential pick in unprecedented circumstances while organizing a convention that can successfully put the new ticket in place for the final three months of the race.

The uncertainty surrounding Biden may also have introduced new factors for Trump and his advisers to consider in choosing a running mate.

Although Trump has previously indicated that he already had a choice in mind, a Republican fundraiser close to the former president said the prospect of Biden ending his White House bid likely changed Trump's calculus.

Trump's search for a running mate has focused on three names: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Trump's campaign has previously said the main criteria for choosing a vice president is a strong leader who will be an excellent president for eight years after his next four-year term ends. Those criteria appear to give Rubio, 53, and Vance, 39, an edge over Burgum, 67.

As the youngest and closest to the far-right forces in the former president’s orbit, Vance appears best positioned to campaign as the heir to Trump’s MAGA movement, if that is the former president’s preference. Rubio’s proximity to donors and the ruling class is seen as a stabilizer for Republicans in Washington, while Trump’s continued fixation on Burgum suggests he may be more interested in casting for the running mate role than choosing a successor.

The timing of the pick’s announcement, however, has become a moving target, especially given the overwhelming focus on Biden. A fresh round of pushback from Democrats about their nominees’ suitability for the job is expected Monday, when members of Congress return from recess. Biden, meanwhile, is attending a NATO summit this week in Washington and is expected to hold a news conference Thursday, where he will likely face questions about his future.

Trump's campaign has set Monday, July 15, the opening night of the Republican convention in Milwaukee, as the deadline to present its vice presidential pick. With party business scheduled that morning, the announcement could come just before the official nomination.

Although Trump once evaluated his potential picks based on whether they could compete head-to-head with Vice President Kamala Harris, those calculations would be set aside if she were to lead the Democratic ticket. Trump’s inner circle increasingly sees that as an outcome they might face.

Harris' potential rise amid Biden's physical decline has crystallized the need for Trump, 78, to choose someone voters believe is capable of handling the job, the Republican fundraiser argued.

Yet few people have a clear idea of ​​Trump’s preferences at this point. One person who has helped former vice presidential candidates and is advising another candidate this time around told CNN that of all the selection processes he’s observed from the inside, this is the one that provides the least amount of information to potential vice presidential candidates.

It's clear that it will be Trump's decision and Trump's alone, the person said.

Sources close to some of the leading contenders have also indicated they are in the dark, often reading tea leaves and media reports to gauge where the process stands.

Faced with this reality, the vice presidential hearings continued through the weekend. In their competing television appearances Sunday, Vance and Rubio expressed somewhat opposing views on Trump’s promise of retaliation, illustrating their competing arguments for the job.

Vance, who has the support of several figures who call for retribution against Trump's political opponents, including the recently imprisoned former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, as well as Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., has embraced the idea that former President Trump, if elected, could appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden.

“I would absolutely support an investigation into past wrongdoing by our government, absolutely,” Vance told NBC's Meet the Press.

Rubio, meanwhile, seems more skeptical that Trump would choose such a path.

“He was president for four years. He didn't attack Hillary Clinton. He didn't attack Joe Biden. He didn't attack Barack Obama,” Rubio told CNN's Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

Burgum did not appear on Sunday political shows this weekend.

In a sign that even Trump’s closest allies don’t believe he’s made up his mind, other names continue to be floated. Speaking on CBS Face the Nation on Sunday, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham pushed for his Palmetto State partner, Sen. Tim Scott, but also cautioned against overlooking Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

If we win Virginia, we win, Graham said. It's over.

The Republican convention itself remains under construction, and planning in Milwaukee is being done under the assumption that nearly every aspect of the party's quadrennial celebration will be viewed through the prism of the tumult unfolding on the other side.

The Republican Party has released few details about the convention, including a list of speakers or Trump's plans for the four-day festivities.

The party platform committee meeting this week will offer a glimpse into how Trump intends to cement his dominance of the party at the convention. The committee’s work, a process driven by insiders and typically closely watched only by party diehards, has come under increased scrutiny this year from some conservative groups rattled by the Trump campaign’s recent demands for a 2024 Republican platform.

In a memo released last month, Trump campaign co-managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita outlined their expectations to dramatically pare down the platform from its sprawling, dense 66 pages to a clear, concise and easily digestible document for voters.

The Republican Party is also considering holding deliberations behind closed doors for the first time, a choice that earned a rebuke last week from Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who called the idea un-American.

The platform debate was already set to unfold amid growing concern among conservative groups, particularly as the party crafts its first official position on abortion since Roe v. Wade. Trump has abandoned his past support for a national abortion ban, which the party has championed in its platform for decades, and anti-abortion groups have warned against scrapping that language to match Trump’s latest position on the issue.

Perkins wrote that limiting access to the platform committee reinforces speculation that the GOP platform will be watered down to a few pages of meaningless, poll-tested talking points.

Rubio, co-sponsor of a Senate bill to ban abortion nationwide starting at 20 weeks with limited exceptions, said Sunday that Trump's position was based on reality and the party should follow him.

“Our platform has to reflect our candidate,” Rubio said.

Trump will return to the campaign trail this week, with rallies planned in South Florida on Tuesday and Pennsylvania on Saturday, his first public events since the day after the debate.

The former president spent much of last week laying low at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort, playing golf and giving his staff a break for the holiday weekend.

But Trump broke his silence on Democrats' lamentations by posting a mocking message on social media over the weekend urging his rival to stay in the race.

Joe Biden should ignore his many detractors and move forward with alacrity and force in his powerful, wide-ranging campaign, Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social. He should be sharp, precise and forceful, just as he was on The Debate.

While the post was clearly meant to sow discord, it was also a sign of growing anxiety within Trump's presidential campaign as his team waits for Democrats to decide whether to run for Biden or someone else.

After Biden's ABC television interview aired Friday night, a senior Trump adviser acknowledged on CNN that the 22 minutes of conversation with George Stephanopoulos did not provide much clarity.

The adviser said: “I thought he lived to fight another day.”

CNN's Kit Maher contributed to this report.

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