Lara Trump considers Senate seat as she steps down from Republican role

Lara Trump will step down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee as she considers a number of potential options with her father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trump, returning to the White House.

Among those possibilities is replacing Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who has been nominated as the next secretary of state. If Mr Rubio is confirmed, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will choose who takes the seat through the remainder of his term, which expires in 2026.

“It is something I would seriously consider,” Mrs Trump said. “If I’m being completely transparent, I don’t know exactly what that would look like. And I certainly want to get all of the information possible if that is something that’s real for me. But yeah, I would 100% consider it.”

Elected to the RNC role in March, Mrs Trump, 42, was a key player in the Republicans retaking the White House and control of the Senate while maintaining a narrow House majority.

The idea of placing a Trump family member in the Senate has been lauded in some Republican circles with Maye Musk, mother of Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, among those pushing for her to take on the role.

“The Senate is an old man’s club. We desperately need a smart, young, outspoken woman who will reveal their secrets,” she posted on X.

Elon Musk, who was with Mrs Trump on election night at her father-in-law’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, responded to his mother’s post: “Lara Trump is genuinely great.”

Alongside chairman Michael Whatley, the RNC invested heavily in recruiting roughly 230,000 volunteers and an army of lawyers for what it called its “election integrity” effort, four years after Mr Trump lost his re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden, citing false or unproven theories about voter fraud.

Outside groups such as Turning Point Action and Musk’s America PAC took greater responsibility for advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts.

While Mr Whatley will remain RNC chairman, Mrs Trump said she felt she had accomplished her goals in the role.

“With that big win, I kind of feel like my time is up,” she said. “What I intended to do has been done.”

She praised Mr Musk’s new Department of Government Efficiency, a nongovernmental task force headed by the X owner and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, given the job of firing federal workers, cutting programmes and slashing federal regulations as part of Mr Trump’s Save America agenda for his second term.

“I really don’t think we’ve seen movement like this in our federal government since our country’s founding in many ways,” she said. “And I think if they are successful in what they plan to do, I think it is going to be transformative to America in a great way.”

She said she expects a different presidency this time, beginning with the structure of the administration. While Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner served as White House advisers in his last administration, Mrs Trump said she does not see any family member taking any position in the White House this time around.

“He really wants to get in there and do a good job for the four years, and that’s all he wants to serve,” she said. “Four years, and he’s out.”

She said she expects the Republican Party to be more unified than it has ever been. When she became co-chair in May, the Trump campaign and the RNC merged with staffers fired and positions restructured. She said the result could spell trouble for Republican lawmakers who do not agree with Trump’s agenda.

“The whole party has totally shifted and totally changed,” she said. “I think people are feeling a little more bold in coming out with their political views.”