Trump vice pres­i­den­tial short list: Pros and cons of nine hope­fuls

For­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump’s week­end donor retreat is being billed as a vice pres­i­den­tial audi­tion as the pre­sump­tive 2024 Repub­li­can nom­i­nee weighs his run­ning mate options.
Trump has sug­gest­ed in inter­views he will be mak­ing a deci­sion “clos­er to Wis­con­sin time,” mean­ing the Repub­li­can Nation­al Con­ven­tion in Mil­wau­kee this July.
While for­mer Vice Pres­i­dent Mike Pence might be seen as a cau­tion­ary tale for poten­tial Trump under­stud­ies, the job is nev­er­the­less attrac­tive to ambi­tious Repub­li­cans. If Trump wins in Novem­ber, he will be con­sti­tu­tion­al­ly inel­i­gi­ble to seek a third term, and his vice pres­i­dent will have an inside track for the 2028 GOP nom­i­na­tion.
The dif­fer­ent names being float­ed in the Trump veep­stakes bring their advan­tages and dis­ad­van­tages. Here are a few of the fac­tors Trump will have to con­sid­er as he pon­ders each of them.
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Sen. Mar­co Rubio (R‑FL)

Sen. Mar­co Rubio (R‑FL) speaks with mem­bers of the media, Wednes­day, Feb. 28, 2024, at the Capi­tol in Wash­ing­ton. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefel­bein)

Pros: Rubio is a well-known, telegenic three-term Repub­li­can sen­a­tor from a state crit­i­cal to Trump’s path to an Elec­toral Col­lege major­i­ty. He will turn 53 at the end of the month, while Trump turns 78 in June. This would add rel­a­tive …