Trump open to giving RFK Jr. Cabinet position in move that could neutralize third-party threat to GOP

Former President Donald Trump said he would “certainly” consider giving independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a position in his administration in return for an endorsement.

In an interview with CNN’s Kristen Holmes, Trump was asked about recent comments from Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, which appeared to take him off guard.

“Well, we haven’t, but I’d love that endorsement,” he responded when asked whether he had considered Kennedy for a role in his administration.

“You’re asking me a very unusual question. I haven’t been asked that question yet,” Trump said, smiling when pressed on the question. “I like him. I respect him a lot. I probably would if something like that were to happen. He’s a very different kind of guy — a very smart guy. And, yeah, I would be honored by that endorsement, certainly.”

“He’s a brilliant guy. He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him for a very long time,” the former president added. “I didn’t know he was thinking about getting out, but if he is thinking about getting out, certainly I’d be open to it.”

He dismissed concerns that appointing Kennedy would anger his Republican supporters.

“I like smart people, and Republicans like me,” Trump said.

The former president also acknowledged that the dynamics of the race had changed since President Joe Biden dropped out but maintained that his strategy hadn’t changed.

“I’m leading in the polls but not by as much,” he said. “But regardless of that, my whole thing doesn’t change. We don’t want crime. We want to have a strong military. We’ve got to stop drugs from coming in. We have to stop people from pouring into our country through an open border.”

In a Tuesday appearance on Tom Bilyeu’s Impact Theory podcast, Shanahan openly flirted with the idea of “joining forces” with Trump in order to stop a Harris presidency.

“There’s two options that we’re looking at, and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency because we draw more votes from Trump,” she said. “Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump and explain to our base why we’re making this decision.”

Kennedy mainly hurt President Joe Biden’s election chances in previous months, but the switching of the nominee to Vice President Kamala Harris flipped the script to mainly hurt Trump’s.