Trump Down to Five or Six Choices for VP

Shifting swiftly to the general election, Donald Trump says he’s narrowed his list of potential running mates to “five or six” people and doesn’t want to accept taxpayer money to finance a fall campaign against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Despite pressure, the billionaire said he doesn’t believe he has an obligation to release his tax returns and won’t release them before November unless an ongoing audit of his finances is completed before Election Day. He said he wouldn’t overrule his lawyers and instruct them to release his returns if the audit hasn’t concluded by then.

“There’s nothing to learn from them,” Trump said. He also said he doesn’t believe voters are interested.

As part of his general election planning, Trump told AP at his office in New York that he’s moving aggressively to identify a running mate with deep political experience. While he would not provide a full list of names, he did not rule out New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the former rival whom he’s already tapped to head his transition planning.

Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is running the vice presidential vetting effort “with a group,” Trump said, that includes former competitor Ben Carson and himself. “Honestly, we’re all running it. It’s very much a group effort,” said Trump.

This article appeared in print on page 2 of the May 12th, 2016 edition of Hamodia.