As early as last summer, some of former President Donald Trump’s primary election competitors and other right-wing figures attracted a small amount of buzz as potential vice presidential picks, and now, with the Iowa caucuses approaching on January 15 -- another potential reminder of Trump’s presumed primary win -- the speculation begins anew.

Past rounds of the Trump veepstakes have floated some big names, like former Fox host Tucker Carlson, as well as known Trump acolytes like former local news anchor Kari Lake (who has since announced a U.S. Senate run instead). Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon even mentioned the conspiracy theorist and retired Gen. Mike Flynn as a possibility. The latest round is similarly combing the right-wing airwaves for known Trump allies who could fit the presumed mold.

Dr. Ben Carson 

On January 3, Newsmax contributor Mercedes Schlapp told Newsmax host Eric Bolling that Trump should choose a “loyalist … someone who’s not worried about the 2028 election,” a clear shot at all of Trump’s 2024 competitors. 

Schlapp suggested Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, or retired surgeon Dr. Ben Carson, prompting her fellow panelist Sebastian Gorka to scream over her, “Yes! No, no! You’re stealing my thunder!” 

“Ben Carson. Ben Carson all the way,” Gorka added, “and he’s a loyalist and he’s a patriot.”

According to a November Newsweek article, hype around a potential Carson nomination began with an anonymous X account, which “claimed … that a source close to Trump said Carson—who was the only Black member of Trump's cabinet—is the leading frontrunner for his vice president.” Carson, a former Trump cabinet member and apparent 2024 campaign surrogate, did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL)

Donalds, a second term U.S. representative, is a prominent Black Republican guest on right-wing media and has historically been a frequent subject of Trump VP speculation. Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk floated the possible candidacy while asking viewers to tell him their preferred Trump VP pick. 

“I just love the idea of the Donalds,” he fantasized. “Donald Trump, Byron Donalds, two alpha males. Boom! It’d be great.” (Kirk also briefly mentioned Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.)

A Vice President Donalds was also floated by Gorka and Schlapp on Newsmax, prompting Bolling to ask the congressman about it in a subsequent interview. “Congressman, you are the man of the hour. You know, shortlist has you on almost every single shortlist.” 

Rep. Donalds gave a fairly standard nonanswer; after saying that he and Trump have not discussed the possibility, he loyally added that he’s “just committed to making sure we get him back in the White House. However that looks, I’m all for it.” In November, Donalds said that he would be Trump’s running mate if he was invited to join the ticket. 

Gov. Kristi Noem

Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, is another frequent subject of the 2024 Trump veepstakes, and on January 3, Bolling told his Donalds-cheering panelists, “You’re wrong. I just -- I know it's Kristi Noem. She was on the show last night.” 

The interview with Noem -- who, like Donalds, also has a large national profile thanks to right-wing media -- did not shed much specific light on her VP odds. Bolling congratulated himself for being “one of the first people who said you would be the perfect one,” and said that Noem has “got it going on” for the position over Carson. “Any more words? You wanna break it here by chance?” 

Like Donalds, Noem demurred, saying that Trump should “pick whoever will help him win” -- and that that person was not former Ambassador Nikki Haley, already a despised figure in Trumpworld. However, even if Trump picked Haley for vice president, Noem said she would still support the ticket because “he’s still the president, and the president still makes the decisions.” With that, Noem once again passed what is likely Trump’s most important qualification for a vice presidential nominee: loyalty. 

Trump’s fellow 2024 primary candidates

Conventional wisdom may suggest that the winner of a presidential primary would consider one of their defeated competitors. But Trump, a man obsessed with personal loyalty, may be unlikely to select anyone who attempted to snatch the GOP nomination from his grasp. 

At a September rally, Trump suggested as much: “They’ll do anything: secretary of something, they even say VP,” he derisively said of the field. “Has anyone seen a VP in that group? I don’t think so.”

Trump’s rejection of the field is closely mirrored by pro-Trump media’s record of attacks against some of the primary candidates, notably including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.   

Although the two were once politically close -- Trump’s 2018 endorsement carried DeSantis into the governor’s mansion in the first place -- they are now at bitter odds, ever since DeSantis first appeared to be challenging Trump for the nomination and media buzz (prominently including from Fox) suggested that the governor may actually beat him. 

Trump media allies began calling DeSantis disloyal to the former president, as the Trump campaign aired humiliating ads about the governor’s purported personal habits.

Haley, who was also a Trump administration appointee, is another conventional possibility, though she is a non-starter for many of Trump’s closest media allies. Podcaster Steve Bannon has pushed a theory that the Republican establishment is trying to “force” Haley onto the ticket at the convention, to “allow her to try to run the administration from number two.” 

Somewhat echoing Bannon, Donald Trump Jr. recently said that “I wouldn’t have her” as vice president, “and I would go to great lengths to make sure that doesn’t happen. … She’s a puppet of the establishment in Washington, D.C.”

A recent USA Today poll asked likely GOP voters for their preferred Trump vice presidential nominee. And although several of Trump’s primary competitors were named, the single biggest vote-getter, at 55%, was no answer, suggesting that voters “seem ready to leave the decision up to Trump.” 

The same is likely true of right-wing media, an ecosystem thoroughly dominated by Trumpism for nearly a decade. Although there is some buzz about particular individuals, most of conservative media will embrace whomever Trump ultimately selects.