Last week, former US President Donald Trump was talked out of making an early endorsement in the 2022 US Senate race in Ohio, something that reflects his drive to reengage politically, the news outlet Axios has cited unnamed sources as saying.
The claims followed the ex-POTUS' top advisers, including Donald Trump Jr., reportedly urging him to wait after he discussed endorsing former GOP chair Jane Timken with Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel during last Friday's meeting at Mar-a-Lago.
According to the sources, Trump Jr. said his father should not be endorsing in Ohio so early, because there were too many unknowns in the Senate race at the moment, and that there are multiple candidates who are running, or thinking about running.
Don Jr. was echoed by another Trump adviser, Jason Miller, who told Axios that "it's way too early to make endorsement decisions in many of the races, particularly when primaries are more than a year away", Miller said, adding that "this is much broader than any one race".
According to him, an endorsement will only take place after a candidate establishes a campaign to be vetted by the Trump operation. This includes filling out a questionnaire that will "help ensure all endorsees are conservative America First Republicans".
In a separate development in Ohio last week, Trump endorsed Max Miller, a primary challenger running against counterpart Anthony Gonzalez, who voted to impeach Trump last month.
"Max Miller is a wonderful person who did a great job at the White House and will be a fantastic Congressman. He is a Marine Veteran, a son of Ohio, and a true patriot", the former US president said.
He quipped that he could "beat them [Democrats] for the third time", in an apparent reference to his 2016 election victory and the outcome of the 2020 race, which Trump had repeatedly claimed he won.