Trump Says Lara Trump is His ‘First Choice’ For Open North Carolina Senate Seat — Concedes There’s One Problem

President Donald Trump weighed in on who he would like to see run to replace retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) in the 2026 midterm elections, telling reporters on Air Force One his daughter-in-law is his first choice.

“I didn’t get along with Tillis, and he resigned. That’s good. That’s a good thing. Somebody that would really be great is Lara. She grew up there, but they live in Florida,” Trump began, acknowledging a key question surrounding Lara Trump’s possible candidacy.

“They have a very good life, and they, you know, they’re great people. She did fantastically running the RNC. She’s even got a show that’s like the number one show, and Mark Levin is likewise. I mean, they have the number-one, number-two show over the weekend. So she’s done well. She’s a great person. Lara Trump. I mean that would always be my first choice, but she doesn’t live there now,” Trump continued, adding:

But, she’s there all the time, parents, and she really knows North Carolina well. I won it three times. I don’t know who the candidates are going to be. I think you’re going to have one of the congressmen step up and she’d do very well.

“So, did she talk to you about it?” followed up a reporter.

“No, not at all. It’s so soon. I had it out with this guy two nights ago, and he resigned, you know, which I was happy about. He did us all a favor,” Trump said of Tillis, who resigned over the weekend after Trump threatened him for refusing to support his “Big, Beautiful” tax and spending bill.

A local NBC affiliate in North Carolina looked into whether or not Lara Trump can run for the Senate in the state and found she would need to establish residency soon to do so. “North Carolina requires candidates to be ‘affiliated with the party for at least 90 days’ when filing for candidacy. Since voter registration requires state residency, and filing occurs in December, Trump would need to move back to North Carolina by September to meet the 90-day party affiliation requirement,” concluded WCNC out of Charlotte.

Watch above via C-SPAN.