Trump Warms to Kennedy and Belittles Walz in Fox News Appearance

Former President Donald J. Trump offered a glowing assessment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday amid reports that the political scion would end his troubled independent presidential campaign and was considering endorsing him.

Both of them are scheduled to be in Arizona on Friday, which has fueled speculation that an alliance is in the works between the two men, who have long been friendly but sparred on social media a few months ago. Mr. Trump, calling into “Fox & Friends,” a show that he frequently appears on, welcomed the prospect on Thursday morning.

“As you know, he’s a little different kind of a guy, very smart guy and a very good person,” Trump said. “If he endorsed me, I would be honored by it. I would be very honored by it. He really has his heart in the right place.”

Mr. Trump’s praise for Mr. Kennedy deviated sharply from his remarks in April, when he wrote a series of social media posts calling Mr. Kennedy “a Democrat ‘Plant,’ a Radical Left Liberal” as polls began showing an overlap between their core supporters. Before then, Democrats harbored greater concerns that Mr. Kennedy could play the role of a spoiler after his short-lived primary challenge against President Biden.

In one of those posts on his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump declared that a vote for Mr. Kennedy would be a wasted protest vote. Mr. Kennedy countered a day later, saying that Mr. Trump’s post sounded “unhinged.”

A leaked video of a phone call in July between the two men, on the day after the attempted assassination of Mr. Trump, offered a behind-the-scenes look into Mr. Trump’s efforts to coax Mr. Kennedy out of the race and into his camp. They also met in person in Milwaukee ahead of the Republican National Convention.