President Trump handed out a political endorsement at a Kentucky rally Wednesday — to a man with no announced candidacy, no declared party affiliation and a jaw still healing from a knockout punch.
Mr. Trump called boxer and social media influencer Jake Paul to the stage at a rally at Verst Logistics in Hebron, Kentucky, praising the 29-year-old as “a great guy” and “a courageous guy and a talented guy” before delivering an endorsement for an office that does not yet exist on any ballot.
“I just want to say I predict, I’m going to make a prediction, that you will be in the not-too-distant future running for political office,” Mr. Trump told the crowd. “And you have my complete and total endorsement.”
Mr. Paul, a former Disney Channel actor-turned YouTube prankster-turned professional boxer, has not announced any plans to seek elected office. He has, however, been a vocal Trump supporter since the 2024 presidential campaign, when he appeared on his podcast “Impaulsive” with the then-candidate to appeal to younger voters.
At the rally, Mr. Paul returned the flattery, telling the crowd that Mr. Trump had taught him “courage” and that he would “never back down from a fight, even if they’re much bigger than you.”
That last line carried a degree of biographical weight. In December, Mr. Paul stepped into the ring with former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, a man who stands 6 feet, 6 inches tall and outweighed Mr. Paul by nearly 30 pounds, and was knocked out in the sixth round at the Kaseya Center in Miami, sustaining a double jaw fracture in the process. He has since required a second surgery after the hardware in his jaw began to come loose — reportedly because, as Mr. Paul himself admitted, he failed to rest adequately during his recovery.
Whether the endorsement portends anything real remains to be seen. Mr. Paul would be constitutionally ineligible for the presidency until 2032, when he would be 35. His older brother, Logan Paul, has also floated the idea of a future political run, raising the prospect, however distant, of a Paul brother in elected office.
USA Today noted that history is not without precedent for celebrity-to-politician transitions: Jesse Ventura, a former professional wrestler, was elected governor of Minnesota in 1999, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former bodybuilder and action star, was elected governor of California in 2003. Whether Mr. Paul follows that path remains, as the president himself acknowledged, a prediction rather than a fact.
The endorsement was not the only one Mr. Trump dispensed at Wednesday’s event. He also backed Ed Gallrein, a Shelbyville farmer and former Navy SEAL challenging Rep. Thomas Massie, the outspoken Kentucky Republican with whom Mr. Trump has long clashed. Mr. Trump called Mr. Massie “a complete and total disaster” at the rally, while Mr. Gallrein called the incumbent’s criticism of the administration’s war with Iran “unforgivable.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has continued to withhold his endorsement in the closely watched Republican Senate primary in Texas, where incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces a primary runoff against former state Attorney General Ken Paxton. The president said last week on social media that he would make an endorsement “soon,” but has not appeared to be in any hurry.
After the rally, Mr. Paul and Mr. Trump were seen on video, posted by Mr. Paul to TikTok, performing the president’s signature dance together.
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