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

Robert F Kennedy Jr is due to announce his "path forward" amid reports in US media that he will end his independent presidential bid and endorse Donald Trump.

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

Mr Kennedy is due to "address the nation" from Phoenix in Arizona at 14:00 ET (19:00 BST) on Friday, a day after he filed to withdraw his candidacy in the state.

Trump is due to hold a rally in nearby Glendale hours later. His campaign said it would include a "special guest", and Trump told Fox News it was "possible" the pair would meet.

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".

Mr Kennedy's withdrawal from Arizona follows comments on Tuesday from his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, that he was considering joining forces with Trump.

Mr Kennedy said soon after on X/Twitter 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: "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.

Shanahan said Mr Kennedy was considering 'joining forces' with Trump

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.

Ms Shanahan's comments to the Impact Theory podcast on Tuesday began the latest round of speculation. She said he 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 "planted insiders" in their campaign, "manipulated polls" and "sued us in every possible state".

"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" but added that she trusted Trump more than Ms Harris with the future of the country.

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.

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.