Donald J. Trump’s decision to name Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate on Monday capped a monthslong selection process that stretched until the virtual last minute — he didn’t settle on his pick until the final 24 hours before announcing it, according to three people familiar with his deliberations.
Even as the former president and his team flew Sunday on his private plane from Bedminster, N.J., to Milwaukee, Mr. Trump peppered aides and family members about the pros and cons of his selection, these people said.
His wife, Melania Trump, had not previously played a key role in the process, but after the attempted assassination of Mr. Trump on Saturday in Pennsylvania, she became more involved, two of the people said. She had urged her husband to tone down the aggressive rhetoric and to choose a running mate who would help him do that.
But Mr. Trump picked Mr. Vance, who is viewed as a more combative and ideological choice than his two other finalists, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota.
One person close to Mr. Trump said the former president seemed newly focused on his decision after the shooting and was clearly ready to get on with the selection.
A Trump campaign spokesman did not return requests for comment.
Before the rally on Saturday, Mr. Trump spoke with his three finalists. Two people said those conversations were scheduled after the contenders reached out to make individual pitches. Mr. Vance and Mr. Rubio met with the former president at Mar-a-Lago; Mr. Burgum talked to Mr. Trump by phone.
Mr. Rubio told Mr. Trump that he was ready to join the ticket, but he urged the former president to think deeply about their shared Florida residency, two people said.
The Constitution prevents Electoral College delegates from voting for a presidential ticket that includes two candidates from the delegates’ own state. Mr. Rubio had privately told people he would have been willing to move to Washington to join Mr. Trump’s ticket.
But Mr. Rubio also wanted to make sure Mr. Trump had no problems having their campaign together start under the shadow of a legal challenge to their ticket, the two people said.
Legal teams for both Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio expressed confidence that they could win any legal challenges, but the former president is already spending millions of dollars to defend himself in criminal cases.
Mr. Burgum had become close with Mr. Trump, but ultimately offered a different set of qualifications than Mr. Vance. A two-term governor with decades of experience in the private sector, including helping build a trio of billion-dollar companies, Mr. Burgum was not viewed as an aggressive foot soldier in Mr. Trump’s MAGA movement, an image that Mr. Vance has spent years burnishing.
In recent weeks, Mr. Burgum made a more concerted effort to sell himself to Mr. Trump. Mr. Burgum bristled at suggestions, like one from Mr. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., that he would be a better Cabinet secretary than a vice president. Mr. Burgum had started more directly lobbying Mr. Trump about why he was a better choice than the other contenders.
But Mr. Burgum has transformed his national image in recent months.
He was largely dismissed as a little-known governor when he launched a long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination last year. Now he’s viewed as one of Mr. Trump’s top advocates on television and an influential voice within the Republican Party.
The post Trump Weighed Pros and Cons of His V.P. Selection Until Last Minute appeared first on New York Times.