Politics

NEW: Trump Endorses Former Political Foe In Crucial Senate Race: ‘I Hope He Runs’

Published

2 weeks ago

April 7, 2025

A former foe of President Donald Trump has now received his blessing to run for the U.S. Senate, a major turnaround that signals how badly he wants Republicans to retain control of the upper chamber after next year’s election.

New Hampshire is expected to be a marquee race of the 2026 elections following Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-NH) announcement that she had opted against seeking reelection. The senior senator made the “difficult decision” to retire after two terms, leaving Republicans salivating at the chance to expand their majority in a purple state that has been just out of reach for over two decades.

As the GOP field begins to take shape, all eyes are on former governor Chris Sununu, the affable and popular Republican who famously sparred with President Trump during his first term and early on in the 2024 election. However, the two became noticeably closer as Election Day approached, and Sununu frequently stumped for his party’s ticket on cable news programs.

President Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, told reporters he hopes to see the former New Hampshire governor make a run for it.

“True,” he said when asked if he encouraged Sununu to run. “He came to my office, the Oval Office. I met with Chris Sununu, and I support him fully.”

The endorsement is a boon not only to Sununu but also Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who met last month with Sununu and no doubt peppered him with encouragement about seeking the open Senate seat, according to the National Review.

Trump added, “I hope he runs. He’s been very nice to me over the last year or so. I hope he runs. I think he’ll win the seat.”

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New Hampshire is the lone holdout among New England states where Republicans have continued to prevail, at least on the state level. Voters in 2022 elected Kelly Ayotte, the former Republican senator, as governor, and last year handed state Senate Republicans their first supermajority in over a decade.

To be sure, those victories haven’t been replicated at the federal level. New Hampshire hasn’t gone for a Republican presidential candidate since George Bush carried the state in 2000; Trump lost the Granite State by nearly 3 points last year.

Also rumored to be mulling a run is Scott Brown, the former Republican Massachusetts senator who famously took the seat once held by Ted Kennedy. Following his 2012 loss he relocated to New Hampshire where he unsuccessfully challenged Shaheen, then governor, in her first Senate race two years later.

Brown was spotted in Washington, D.C. last month, making the rounds while doing little to bat away speculation that he is interested in returning to his old job, albeit on behalf of his new home state.