Donald Trump reveals his family member he'd like to see replace Thom Thills
The president celebrated Tillis - who voted against the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' - announcing he would not run for re-election Sunday.
On Tuesday, the president was asked who he'd like to see take his spot and a familiar name came to mind.
'Somebody that would really be great is Lara, she grew up there,' Trump said.
He noted that while Lara, 42, is from North Carolina, she and husband Eric 'live in Florida, they have a very good life.'
Lara, the wife of the president's son, would have the family's backing if she chose to run, a source told DailyMail.com Monday.
'She's a great person, Lara Trump. I mean, that would always be my first choice but she doesn't live there now, but she's there all the time, her parents are there, she really knows North Carolina well and I won there three times.'
Trump cited Lara's success at running the Republican National Committee in 2024 and her new Fox News talk show.
Assuming a Republican wins in 2026 in the purple state, Trump will be happy to see the back of Tillis regardless of who it is.
'I didn't get along with Tillis and he resigned, that's a good thing. I had it out with this guy two nights ago and he resigned, he did us all a favor. I was happy about it,' Trump told the press gaggle.
The seat may not be hers for the taking even if she has the support of her famous family.
Several other Republicans are considering a bid, including former party chairman Michael Whatley, who is seen as a strong contender; Congressman Pat Harrigan; and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, sources tell DailyMail.
Lara, however, would have the Trump family support if she runs, a source familiar told DailyMail.
Lara is married to Eric Trump, the president's third child and is also host of a weekend show on Fox News. Eric sparked talk of a Trump political dynasty earlier this month when he told the Financial Times that a political career would be 'would be an easy one' for family members, if they took that option.
Still, one Trump adviser told Axios they'd be 'surprised if she wants to leave the amazing gig she has at Fox.'
North Carolina is a longtime battleground state where Democrats tend to win the governorships and Republicans the Senate seats.
Democrats, however, see the retirement of Tillis, a well-liked Republican senator, as a chance to change their luck. The party is pushing former Gov. Roy Cooper, a popular politician, to run for the seat.
Asked if he would back a successor for his seat, Tillis didn't answer.
'Dependent upon whether or not President Trump endorses somebody it could be an open primary,' he told reporters on Capitol Hill on Sunday night.. 'He could close it out and the party could get behind it, I suspect that's what they do. I just really hope he has some discernment because obviously Mark Robinson was a bad pick.'
Robinson, the scandal-ridden lieutenant governor, lost last year's gubernatorial race to Democrat Josh Stein even as Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris in the presidential race.
Lara Trump, a North Carolina native who graduated from N.C. State University, currently anchors a weekend show on Fox News.
During the 2024 election, she served as co-chair of Republican National Committee. In that contest, President Trump backed Whatley to be chairman with Lara Trump as his deputy. The duo served together through the election.
She was previously floated as a potential Senate candidate when former Republican Sen. Richard Burr retired. She opted not to launch a campaign for the seat.
Eric and Lara currently live in Florida. Lara was touted as a candidate to replace Marco Rubio in the Senate when he was confirmed as secretary of state but, again, she opted to stay out of politics.
She said she worries about moving her family to Washington D.C., pointing to advice she received from her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who both worked in the first Trump Administration.
'It was tough on them personally, but it was really tough on their family,' she told Time magazine in February.
'Even if I decided to move my whole family, dogs and all, up to Washington, D.C., I still think that it probably would have been a big challenge for my kids and for us as a whole.'
Eric Trump, speaking to the Financial Times a few weeks ago, expressed the same concerns about his children and a political life.
'The real question is: 'Do you want to drag other members of your family into it?'' Eric Trump said when asked about running for public office. Their son Luke is seven and daughter Caroline is five.
'Would I want my kids to live the same experience over the last decade that I've lived?
'If the answer was yes, I think the political path would be an easy one, meaning, I think I could do it,' he said. 'And by the way, I think other members of our family could do it too.'
Tillis announced his retirement on Sunday after Trump whacked him over his opposition to the president's 'big, beautiful' budget bill currently making its way through the Senate.
Tillis was one of two Republican senators who voted against the 'motion to proceed' on Trump's budget bill Saturday evening, along with Kentucky Republican Rand Paul.
In a post made to his social media site Truth Social Sunday morning, President Trump came after Tillis, claiming that he 'hurt the great people of North Carolina' and calling him a 'talker and complainer.'
'Thom Tillis has hurt the great people of North Carolina. Even on the catastrophic flooding, nothing was done to help until I took office. Then a Miracle took place! Tillis is a talker and complainer, Not A Doer! He's even worse than Rand 'Fauci' Paul,' Trump wrote on Sunday morning.
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