ELECTION/MIKE PENCE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump’s post-midterm election news conference at the White House last week took a surprising turn when a reporter asked about locking down his 2020 ticket. ‘Mike, will you be my running mate?’ Mr. Trump asked Vice President Pence, who stood up, raised his hand, and nodded. ‘Will you? Thank you. O.K., good,’ the president said. ‘That was unexpected, but I feel very fine.’ But in private Mr. Trump is apparently not feeling so fine. In recent weeks, with his electoral prospects two years from now much on his mind, Mr. Trump has focused on the person who has most publicly tethered his fortunes to him. In one conversation after another he has asked aides and advisers a pointed question: Is Mike Pence loyal? Mr. Trump has repeated the question so many times that he has alarmed some of his advisers. The president has not openly suggested dropping Mr. Pence from the ticket and picking another running mate, but the advisers say those kinds of questions usually indicate that he has grown irritated with someone.”
–Maggie Haberman and Katie Rogers, “Is Mike Pence Loyal? Trump Is Asking, Despite His Recent Endorsement,” The New York Times online, November 16, 2018