Could another Trump be heading to Washington, D.C. soon? The president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is seriously considering a Senate run in North Carolina after Sen. Thom Tillis announced Sunday he will not seek reelection in 2026.
The president’s daughter-in-law would likely dominate the Republican primary if she entered the race.
A source close to the Trump family said there is a “high” chance Lara Trump will run for the seat. Another source told NOTUS she is “seriously considering” the bid.
“I’d put it as high as one could be considering it … The race will be over before it begins,” a source told NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard.
Tillis, 64, announced his retirement after the senator publicly clashed with President Donald Trump this weekend over his “big, beautiful bill” and its proposed cuts to Medicaid.
Lara Trump, 42, married Eric Trump in 2014 and has become one of the most politically active members of the Trump family. She is a native of Wilmington, North Carolina, and graduated from N.C. State University.
President Trump ousted Republican National Committee leadership in March 2024 and appointed his daughter-in-law as co-chair of the committee. After Trump’s election victory, she stepped down from the RNC position and began hosting a weekend Fox News show, “My View with Lara Trump,” earlier this year.
This is not Lara Trump’s first time seriously considering a Senate campaign. In 2020, she almost ran when former Sen. Richard Burr retired but opted to stay in the private sector. She left the door open to “a future run for office” at that time.
In 2024, she was also among the contenders to replace Marco Rubio as one of Florida’s senators, but ultimately withdrew from consideration before announcing her Fox News show.
President Trump posted on Truth Social late Saturday, prior to Tillis’s announcement, that he was looking for primary challengers for the incumbent senator.
“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” Trump wrote. “I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America.”
North Carolina has been a key state for Trump’s electoral success. The president has won the state in all three of his elections, though it is not considered a deep-red state. The North Carolina Senate seat is widely considered the toughest for the GOP to defend next year.
Lara Trump has already appeared in some North Carolina Senate polling. A Victory Insights survey from last summer showed her receiving 65 percent support among likely Republican voters, compared with just 11 percent for Tillis.
Democrats are hoping former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper will enter what many within the party think is a winnable seat.