It seems that President Donald Trump has buried the hatchet with regards to former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who for years was a prime Republican critic of the previous and present president.
Trump now says that if Sununu runs for the Senate in 2026 for the seat presently held by retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, his former antagonist would have his full help.
Sununu, who in January accomplished his fourth and closing two-year time period steering swing state New Hampshire, informed Fox Information Digital in an interview final month that he aimed to decide relating to a 2026 marketing campaign within the “next few weeks.”
He emphasised that “I have no doubt I’d have the president’s support,” if he determined to make a bid for the Senate.
President Donald Trump talks to members of the press aboard Air Drive One throughout a flight to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on April 6, 2025. ( REUTERS/Kent Nishimura )
Trump, when requested by reporters about Sununu as he flew to Washington, D.C., on Sunday evening aboard Air Drive One, revealed that the 2 politicians met just lately on the White Home.
“I told him — He came to my office, came to the Oval Office, and [I] met with Chris Sununu, and I support him fully. I hope he runs,” Trump stated. “He’s been very nice to me over the last year or so, but no, I hope he runs. I think he’ll win that seat.”
Sununu supported Trump in the course of the 2016 common election and once more when Trump unsuccessfully ran for re-election in 2020. The then-governor had a powerful working relationship with the Trump White Home, together with shut ties with then-Vice President Mike Pence.
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Nonetheless, Sununu pushed again in opposition to Trump’s unproven claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and “stolen.” He additionally began stating in early 2021 that the GOP was bigger than anybody particular person, which was perceived as a swipe on the then-former president.
Sununu amped up his criticism of the previous president throughout quite a few nationwide interviews on cable information networks and Sunday speak exhibits, repeatedly arguing that Trump had an excessive amount of political baggage to win again the White Home. Moreover, Sununu started mulling a doable 2024 White Home run of his personal, which he finally determined in opposition to.
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire endorses former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at a marketing campaign occasion in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Dec. 12, 2023. (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
Nonetheless, he ended up backing and changing into a prime surrogate of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley within the 2024 GOP presidential major. Haley ended up being the ultimate rival to Trump within the nomination race.
Trump sometimes returned fireplace at Sununu, calling him a “spoiled brat” and a “nasty guy,” amongst different issues.
Nonetheless, after Trump clinched the 2024 GOP nomination, Sununu stated he would vote for his social gathering’s presidential nominee.
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Earlier this yr, Sununu stated in a Fox Information Digital interview that “Donald Trump is the head of the party, and he’s the voice of the Republican Party, and I got to say, I think he’s doing a pretty darn good job in the first couple months.”
Relating to a possible 2026 Senate run for a seat Republicans are aiming to flip from blue to purple as they hope to develop their present 53-47 majority within the chamber, Sununu informed Fox Information Digital final month that whereas “the door’s open” to working, he emphasised “it’s not open a lot, to be honest.”
Sununu, who was elected and re-elected to 4 straight two-year phrases as governor, touted that “I have no doubt I can win.”
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is interviewed by Fox Information Digital on his closing full day in workplace, on Jan. 8, 2025 on the Statehouse in Harmony, New Hampshire. (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
The previous governor’s feedback in current interviews are a swap from final yr, when he repeatedly stated he wouldn’t search to run for the Senate in 2026.
4 years in the past, Sununu expressed curiosity in working for the Senate in opposition to his predecessor as governor, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, who was up for re-election in 2022. The favored governor was closely courted by nationwide Republicans to tackle Hassan, however on Nov. 9, 2021, Sununu introduced that he would as a substitute run for a fourth time period as governor, upsetting many Republicans within the nation’s capital.
Moreover, he closely criticized the Senate. “They debate and talk and nothing gets done,” he stated on the time.
Sununu, who left workplace in January with very optimistic approval and favorable rankings, is seen by nationwide Republicans as the perfect candidate to win the seat. Nonetheless, he’s not the one Republican mulling a Senate bid in New Hampshire.
Former Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who later narrowly misplaced to Shaheen in New Hampshire within the 2014 election, is critically contemplating a 2026 run.
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Former Sen. Scott Brown is interviewed by Fox Information Digital on Dec. 24, 2024 in Rye, New Hampshire. (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
Brown, who served 4 years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand throughout Trump’s first administration, has been holding conferences with Republicans throughout New Hampshire for a few months and has met a number of occasions with GOP officers within the nation’s capital.
Earlier this yr, Brown met with prime Trump administration political officers on the White Home, sources informed Fox Information.
When requested in regards to the president’s feedback relating to Sununu, Brown informed Fox Information in an announcement that “President Trump is the leader of the party, and he has earned the right to endorse whoever he supports. There is no path to a Republican nomination running against President Trump-backed candidates.”
Within the race for the Democratic Senate nomination in New Hampshire, four-term Rep. Chris Pappas formally launched his marketing campaign final week.
Utilizing clips of a listening tour he made by all ten of New Hampshire’s counties final month as he ramped up towards working for the Senate, Pappas stated voters really feel like “the system’s rigged.”
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Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., pronounces his bid to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a fellow Democrat, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Manchester, New Hampshire. ( AP Photograph/Robert F. Bukaty)
“You think about the Social Security office that’s going to be closed in Littleton, drastic cuts to Medicaid, all in the name of giving big tax breaks to billionaires like Elon Musk,” he argued, as he pointed to Trump’s prime donor and the world’s richest particular person, who’s main the administration’s controversial downsizing of the federal authorities workforce.
Pappas emphasised, “I do get angry, because when you’re talking about public service, you should be focused on how you can help people, how you can make people’s lives better.”
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Pappas might not have the Democratic Senate major in New Hampshire all to himself.
Sources near Rep. Maggie Goodlander, New Hampshire’s different Home member, stated final month that the first-term consultant is contemplating a Senate run.
