Trump hints he’d back longtime critic’s bid to flip Dem Senate seat in 2026

President Donald Trump appears to have buried hatred when it comes to former New Hampshire ruler Chris Sunono, who for years was a great Republican critic of the former and current president.

Trump now says that if Sununu is going through the Senate title in 2026 for the seat currently occupied by retired democratic senator Jean Shaheen, his former opponent will have his full support.

Sonono, who was completed in January, said his fourth and last two years in New Hampshire, Fox News Digitter in an interview last month that he was aiming to take a decision on the 2026 campaign in the next few weeks.

He stressed that “I have no doubt that I have the president’s support,” if he decides to make an offer to the Senate.

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Trump, when the correspondents were asked about Sonono flying to Washington, DC, on Sunday evening on Air Force One, he revealed that politicians recently met at the White House.

I told him – he came to my office, and came to the oval office, and [I] I met Chris Sunono, and I fully supported him. “I hope to run, it was very nice for me during the past year or so, but no, I hope he runs. I think he will win this seat,” Trump said.

Sonono Trump supported during the 2016 general elections and again when Trump was running in vain for his re -election in 2020. The ruler at the time had a strong working relationship with the White House Trump, including close relations with the then -will president Mike Pines.

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However, Sonono pushed back against Trump’s unpublished allegations that the 2020 presidential elections were “forged” and “stolen”. He also began to say in early 2021 that the Republican Party was greater than any one, which was seen as criticism in the president at the time.

Sonono operated his criticism of the former president during many national interviews on cable news and dialogue programs on Sunday, on the pretext of repeatedly that Trump had a lot of political luggage to restore the White House. In addition, Sonono began thinking about the 2024 White House race, which he eventually decided.

Republican ruler Chris Sonono from New Hampshire supports former South Carolina ruler Nikki Haley at a campaign in Manchester, New Hampshire, on December 12, 2023. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

However, he ended up supporting and became a great alternative to former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley in the preliminary elections for the Republican Party heads for the year 2024. Haley ended as Trump’s final competitor in the nomination race.

Trump sometimes shot Sononu, describing him as a “spoiled naughty” and “bad man”, among other things.

However, after Trump obtained the nomination of the Republican Party for the year 2024, Sonono said he would vote for the presidential candidate for his party.

What Sonono Fox News told him about his candidacy for the potential Senate

Earlier this year, Sonono said in a digital interview for Fox News.

Regarding the operation of the year 2026 in the Senate to obtain a seat that the Republicans aim to stir from blue to red because they hope to expand their current majority 53-47 in the room, Sonono Fox News Digitter told last month that while “the door is open” for running, he stressed that “it is not openly open, to be honest.”

Sonono, who was elected and re -elected to four consecutive periods for two years as a ruler, described that “I have no doubt that I can win.”

Republican ruler Chris Sunono from New Hampshire was interviewed by Fox News Digital on his last day in the office, on January 8, 2025 in Concorde, New Hampshire. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

The comments of the former ruler in recent interviews are a transformation from last year, when he repeatedly said that he would not seek to run for the Senate in 2026.

Four years ago, Sonono expressed interest in running for the Senate against his predecessor as a ruler, Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan, who was awake for his re -election in 2022. The popular ruler has announced greatly by the National Republicans to take over the division of division.

In addition, he strongly criticized the Senate. “They are discussing and speaking and nothing,” he said.

National Republicans look at Sonono, who left his position in January with very positive consent and positive classifications, as the best candidate to win the seat. However, it is not the only Republican who studies the Senate’s offer in New Hampshire.

Former Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who later lost to Shaheen in New Hampshire in the 2014 elections, is seriously considering in the 2026 race.

The former Republican Party, in an attempt in a possible Senate, weighs and whether Trump will support him

Former Senator Scott Brown was interviewed by Fox News Digital on December 24, 2024 in Ray, New Hampshire. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Brown, who has held a four -year -old American ambassador in New Zealand during Trump’s first administration, holds meetings with Republicans throughout New Hampshire for two months and met several times with Republican Party officials in the country’s capital.

Earlier this year, Brown met with senior political officials of the Trump administration at the White House, Fox News sources said.

When asked about the President’s comments regarding Sununu, Brown told Fox News in a statement that “President Trump is the party’s leader, and he has the right to support those who support him,” he told Brown.

In the race for the nomination of the Democratic Senate in New Hampshire, the deputy, who is increasing for four Chris Babas, launched his campaign last week.

Using clips from the listening round he made through all New Hampshire’s provinces last month as he ascended to running for the Senate, Papas said that the voters felt that they were “falsifying the regime.”

Trump’s influence on Republicans is stronger than ever, but Sonono says the Republican Party is still a “big party”

Representative Chris Papas, DN.H, is an attempt behind retired American Senator Jean Shaheen, a democratic colleague, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Manchester, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

“You are thinking about the social security office that will be closed in Litton, and radical discounts in Medicid, all in the name of giving major tax exemptions to billionaires such as Elon Musk,” he said, and he referred to the top donors in Trump and the richest person in the world, who leads to the lack of controversial management.

“I feel angry, because when you talk about public service, you should focus on how to help people, and how you can make people’s lives better.”

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Babas may not have the preliminary elections in the Democratic Senate in New Hampshire for itself.

The sources close to MP Maggie Godlandar, the other member of the House of Representatives in New Hampshire, said last month that the first -term representative is considering a tour of the Senate.