South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, who is on the short list to be Republican front-runner Donald Trump's vice president pick, met with the former president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, the Daily Caller reported.
Noem, 52, is in her second term as governor, which she won in November 2022 with 62% of the vote. Trump confirmed earlier this month that Noem is on his VP shortlist, along with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and former Hawaii Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Noem is coming off her speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Washington, D.C., last weekend. At a straw poll taken at the conference, Noem tied with Ramaswamy for first place as the preference to be Trump's running mate in November.
A Trump-Noem ticket is also the preferred pairing in Wisconsin, too, according to a Kaplan Strategies poll last week. Noem has a favorability rating of 39% in Wisconsin with DeSantis next at 35% and Ramaswamy at 28%, according to the survey.
Noem endorsed Trump in September and told Newsmax at the same time that she would "absolutely" consider being Trump's running mate.
"I mean, I would in a heartbeat. Just because, you respect the position and the person who asks you to do something and then see if you really believe that you could make a difference," Noem told Newsmax.
"President Trump needs a strong partner if he's going to take back the White House, he's going to need somebody who knows what it's like to run a business, to be an employee, earn a paycheck, but also having a wife, mom, and a grandma isn't bad, either. And I think that that kind of perspective would weigh in very well on a lot of policy decisions," she added.