Ron DeSantis Shares Theory on Trump and Nikki Haley

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has said he expects his rival Nikki Haley would accept a running-mate deal with Donald Trump.

"There's a reason why they spend money against me. Haley and Trump spend money against me. He has not spent any money against her, and she has not spent any money against him," DeSantis said on a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Friday. "She will not answer directly, and she owes you an answer to this: Will she accept a vice presidential nomination from Donald Trump? Yes or no?"

Haley's profile has risen considerably since she announced her bid for the presidency; she is charging forward in several polls and now running neck and neck with DeSantis for second place. However, former President Trump remains the frontrunner to become the Republican candidate, according to the polling aggregators 538, formerly known as FiveThirtyEight. Newsweek contacted the offices of Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley for comment via email on Saturday.

Speculation has been growing that Haley could accept the gig that could lead her to become the next vice president if Trump is successful in his 2024 attempt to return to the White House. She has worked directly with Trump before, having served in his administration as ambassador to the United Nations.

Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon said Trump is likely to pick a female running mate, but did not specifically mention Haley.

"My thinking is very structured that I believe President Trump will have a female as the vice president," Bannon said on The Sean Spicer Show on Friday. However, he floated names like Kristi Noem, Elise Stefanik, Nancy Mace, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kari Lake and Marsha Blackburn as the likely candidates.

In a recent Newsweek poll conducted by Redfield and Wilton Strategies, 19 percent of Americans who said they would vote for Trump would prefer Haley as his running mate, an increase of 5 percent on a previous Newsweek poll from September.

However, Trump has not given any indication of whom he would pick as running mate if he succeeds in securing the nomination.

DeSantis also rebuffed the idea that he would accept a running-mate deal with any of his fellow GOP candidates. "And I can tell you under any circumstance, I will not accept that, because that's not why I'm running," DeSantis said. "I'm running for the nomination and to be president. And I'm totally fine, you know, I'd rather be governor than vice president, no question. I can do more for my state and this country without question.

"I'm the only one that can beat Trump, let's just be clear on that," DeSantis added on the campaign trail.

"Haley cannot get enough support from core Republicans and conservatives. She's getting support from people who either aren't Republicans or are on kind of the 10, 15 percent, which is fine. I mean, you need those people for it to win the general, but you have to be able to appeal to conservatives and core Republicans. And I'm the only one that can do that."

DeSantis' bid for president has struggled, particularly against front-runner Donald Trump, with Republican primary voters heading to the Iowa caucuses in January 2024.