Following his decisive win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, former President Donald Trump dropped a hint about one person who might serve in an “important” role in his White House administration.
Speaking on the victory stage in Iowa Monday night, Trump praised one of his former political rivals — Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota — saying he’d serve a vital role in his next administration.
Trump hasn’t announced his possible running mate yet, though he has dropped certain hints along the campaign trail.
On Monday, Trump spoke about Burgum and the fact that he dropped out of the GOP primary in December. He said of the North Dakota governor, who appeared next to him:
“Doug Burgum from North Dakota, the governor and his beautiful wife, Catherine, and he got out of the race. What people don’t know is that he actually supported me on the other side twice already. That he decided to do it and he was outstanding.
“But, the traction is never easy, right? You need controversy for traction sometimes. And this guy is the most solid guy. There’s no controversy whatsoever. And he’s one of the best governors in our country.
“And I hope that I’m going to be able to call on him to be … a very important piece of the administration.”
Burgum wasn’t able to build a big enough base for his own presidential bid, which was considered a longshot from the beginning. When he suspended his campaign last month, he placed the blame on the stringent requirements that were put in place by the Republican National Committee to qualify for debates.
The governor actually qualified for the first two debates, but he had to get creative in order to do so. He offered people who made a $1 donation a $20 gift card, so that he could increase the total number of people who contributed to his campaign — which was one of the RNC’s requirements.
Burgum couldn’t convince enough people to contribute for future debates, though, as he wasn’t able to qualify.
On Sunday, he decided to endorse Trump for the GOP nomination.
Burgum funded most of his campaign efforts from his own money. He has a solid net worth, having accumulated a lot of that money from his time as the head of Great Plains Software, a company that Microsoft acquired back in 2001 for more than $1 billion.
After that acquisition, Burgum ended up working for Microsoft through 2007. He’s also had prominent roles at companies in the venture capital and real estate development sectors.
Burgum is currently serving his second term as governor of North Dakota, and he’s actually eligible to serve a third next year. He hasn’t indicated yet whether he has plans to run for re-election.
Last week at a town hall hosted by Fox News, Trump said he has already made his choice of a running mate, but he wouldn’t be making that news public just yet.