Trump, Youngkin meet for first time as GOP eyes winning Virginia in November

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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin says his state is ‘in play’ in the presidential election

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, in a Fox News Digital interview, says his state ‘looks like it's in play’ in the Biden-Trump presidential election rematch.

Former President Donald Trump and Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin met this week. They discussed efforts to flip Virginia red in the 2024 presidential election, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Two sources with knowledge of the meeting told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Trump and Youngkin had discussed recent polling showing Trump neck-and-neck with President Biden in the Old Dominion State, after Biden won the state by 10 points in 2020. The meeting included discussions on how Trump can pull ahead of Biden as the election cycle further intensifies. 

The pair also discussed the issues of energy, inflation and trade. The meeting is described as a first ever between the 45th president and Youngkin, who was elected governor in the state’s 2021 election. 

Youngkin is the state’s first Republican governor since Bob McDonnell’s tenure from 2010 to 2014. 

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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and former President Donald Trump meet ahead of 2024 election.  (Trump campaign)

Virginia has voted for Democrats in each presidential election since President Barack Obama’s first campaign for the White House in 2008. Virginia, which is home to many who work in neighboring Washington, D.C., has not been considered a battleground state in the 2024 election, but recent polling indicates that it could play out to being a tighter than anticipated race. 

Youngkin has previously said that Virginia "is in play" and could deliver a win to Trump come November. 

"I think Virginia is in play. Let's just remind ourselves - Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points in 2020. I ended up winning by two the next year. What we've demonstrated is commonsense conservative policies work, and Virginians appreciate that," Youngkin said in an interview with radio host and Fox News contributor Guy Benson last month. The governor reiterated those comments in a Fox News Digital interview last week.

Back in 2020, Biden won the state by 10 points over Trump. During the 2016 election, when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced off against Trump, the Democratic Party also claimed victory over Virginia, with Clinton earning 49.8% of the vote to Trump’s 44.4%. 

A Fox News poll published earlier this month shows the 45th president and Biden with 48% support each in a deadlocked match-up in the Old Dominion State. 

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In a multi-candidate race, Biden stands at 42%, and Trump at 41%, with Democrat-turned-independent Robert K. Kennedy at 9% and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent Cornel West each at 2%.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia joins fellow Republican governors at a news conference to criticize President Biden's energy policy, on June 3, 2024, at an oil refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana.  (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

Youngkin captured the governor's office in 2021, thanks in part to Trump's backing, although Youngkin and Trump had never met in person.

Republicans also won the races for Virginia lieutenant governor and attorney general in the party's first statewide victories in a dozen years. They also flipped the state House, and the victories in a state that had trended blue over the previous decade energized Republicans nationwide.

Last November, however, Democrats won back the majority in the state House and defended their control of the state Senate in a setback for Youngkin, who had led the Republican charge on the campaign trail even though his name wasn't on the ballot.

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"To even be having this conversation today, I think fully reflects the change in view about not only the strength that Donald Trump would bring to the presidency, but the weakness that Joe Biden has demonstrated," Youngkin told Fox News’ MacCallum in an interview this month. 

"We have economic weakness, we have national security weakness, we have chaos at the border, we have energy weakness, and Americans and Virginians are ready for a change. That's why I do think states that in 2016 were not in play, I think can be in play this year. It's still early days, but this strength from President Trump, not only in Virginia but around the country, is clear, and I think Virginians and Americans are ready for change."

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin addresses the crowd during an early voting rally on Sept. 21, 2023, in Petersburg, Virginia. Youngkin says the proposed budget he will soon unveil for the next two fiscal years will include an increase in state spending on early learning and childcare programs. Youngkin said in a speech on Dec. 7 that the central aim of the proposal is to ensure that the end of federal pandemic-era funds used to expand those initiatives doesn't leave families in the lurch. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

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Looking ahead to this autumn's elections, Youngkin noted that he has "fully endorsed" Trump and said, "We’re going to enthusiastically campaign in order to win this thing."

Former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd at a campaign event on July 1, 2023, in Pickens, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

There was plenty of speculation last year that Youngkin would potentially launch a White House run of his own, but the governor has kept his focus squarely on his home state. The source with knowledge of Youngkin's meeting with Trump told Fox News Digital that the pair did not discuss his possibility as a running mate.

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When asked in a previous interview about the possibility of a 2028 White House run, Youngkin pivoted and said his priority is "to be the best governor I possibly can in the Commonwealth, and I gotta tell you, I love this job. We have made huge progress, and I’ve got almost another two years to continue to do for Virginia what Virginians hired me to do."