Former US President Donald Trump could announce his vice presidential pick as early as this week, possibly ahead of Thursday's debate, four people familiar with the situation told NBC News on Tuesday.
Trump has said publicly that he intends to announce his pick shortly before, or at, the Republican convention next month, but there have been high-level discussions in recent days within the Trump campaign about moving that timeline up and making a splash sooner, the sources said.
The sources also cautioned that the timing is not yet final, and the decision could still happen closer to the convention.
Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita later wrote on X in response to the report, "Yes ..it could come as soon as today …or …sometime in mid July !!"
Earlier this week, Trump told reporters at a Philadelphia campaign stop that he knows who his vice presidential pick will be, but did not name that person.
He added that the person will “most likely” be at Thursday’s debate against President Joe Biden.
Trump also said that “nobody knows” his choice yet. NBC News reported last week that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio were still high on the list of potential VP picks.
There had been some previous speculation that former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination but dropped out of the race, could be Trump’s running mate.
However, both Trump and Haley recently dismissed the idea that she could be his vice president.