RFK Jr considers 'path forward' amid reports he will back Trump

Robert F Kennedy Jr has announced he will address his "path forward" amid reports in the US media that he will end his presidential bid and endorse Donald Trump.

Trump and his running-mate JD Vance said they would support the independent ending his campaign to align with their Republican ticket against Democratic nominees Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

Mr Kennedy said on Wednesday that he would "address the nation" on Friday about his path forward, but has not said what that will be.

The announcement follows comments from his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, who said on Tuesday that the Democratic party had tried to "sabotage" their campaign and Mr Kennedy was considering joining forces with Trump.

The ABC and NBC networks reported on Wednesday that Mr Kennedy would use his address on Friday to endorse Trump.

CBS, the BBC's news partner in the US, quoted two sources as saying that he was "considering ending his presidential candidacy".

On X/Twitter on Tuesday Mr Kennedy said that "as always, I am willing to talk with leaders of any political party to further the goals I have served for 40 years in my career and in this campaign."

Trump indicated he was open to the idea of joining forces with Mr Kennedy, telling CNN on the same day: "If he is thinking about getting out, certainly I'd be open to it. He's a brilliant guy. He's a very smart guy."

Mr Vance said on Wednesday that it would be "good" if Mr Kennedy dropped out and joined forces with the former president. He clarified on Fox & Friends that he has not spoken to Mr Kennedy about the potential move.

Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr, meanwhile told conservative radio host Glenn Beck that he would "love the idea" of Mr Kennedy joining a future Trump administration.

"I love the idea of giving him some sort of role in some sort of major three-letter entity or whatever it may be and let him blow it up," he said.

Mr Kennedy, 70, has faced a number of hurdles in his longshot campaign, from legal challenges over getting his name on state ballots to funding his run.

Media reports over the last few months have indicated that he has offered to endorse Trump in exchange for a role in his next administration.

A leaked phone call in July between the two candidates had Trump saying he would "love" Mr Kennedy "to do something" to support him.

The latest rumours came after Ms Shanahan, his running mate, told the Impact Theory podcast on Tuesday that their campaign was considering two options to combat the "risk" of a Harris presidency - dropping out and joining Trump, or staying in and forming a third party.

She claimed the Democrats had tried to "sabotage" Mr Kennedy's independent run for office - had "planted insiders" in their campaign, "manipulated polls" and "sued us in every possible state".

The BBC has sought comment from the Democratic party.

"There's two options that we're looking at and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and [Tim] Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump, or we draw somehow more votes from Trump," Ms Shanahan, 38, said.

"Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump and you know, we walk away from that and we explain to our base why we’re making this decision."

She said it was "not an easy decision".

Ms Shanahan said that she trusted Trump more than Ms Harris with the future of the country.

On Wednesday, she clarified her comments on Fox News and said that Mr Kennedy's future was his to decide, but she would support him if he joined Trump.

"It's Bobby's decision. I came into this supporting him wholeheartedly to win this election. And I have to say, there's only one party that has obstructed a fair election for us, and unfortunately, it was the Democratic Party," she said.

On the podcast, she rejected recent reports that the Kennedy campaign had been in talks with the Harris team about a potential endorsement or cabinet position.

"That said, we have offered to talk to everybody about what your policies are, who's going to be in your cabinet, do you want to hear any of our takes on policy and what might work," she said.

She noted that Trump had taken a keen interest in some of their campaign's policies around chronic disease.

"For that reason, it behoves us to sit and see if we can actually make some real change and if that is a unity party, I think that it is something that we absolutely owe to the American public to explore," said Ms Shanahan.

The Harris campaign chairwoman, Jen O'Malley Dillon, told Politico that she was not worried if Mr Kennedy endorsed Trump.

"We are very confident that [Ms Harris] is going to win whether she's running against one candidate or multiple candidates. I don't think it's really going to interfere with the race too much," she said.