The presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is reportedly considering two retired generals for the vice presidency, according to news accounts.
The businessman and television star's list of potential candidates includes retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and retired Army Gen. Jack Keane, former vice chief of staff, The New York Post and other outlets have reported.
With Keane already signaling he's not interested in the job, Flynn -- a 57-year-old registered Democrat but harsh critic of President Barack Obama and his administration -- is likely under more serious consideration.
"All I would say is that I have been honored to serve my country for the past three decades and look forward to serving in other ways now that I am retired from the U.S. Army," Flynn told The New York Post in an interview. "I've been a soldier too long to refuse to entertain any request from a potential commander in chief."
Flynn has criticized the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for mishandling sensitive emails and called on her to end her bid for the presidency. On Tuesday, Flynn is publishing a book called, "Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies."
"FBI decision a direct slap @ anyone who ever held a security clearance & followed the rules," he tweeted July 5 after FBI Director James Comey, a Republican, concluded that Clinton's sending of secret emails on a private server was careless, not criminal.
Clinton "can never hold scty clearance & all Americans should demand she step down," he also tweeted July 8. "Lacks any accountability."
Keane, meanwhile, was a key architect behind the 2007 "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq and who has pushed for a plan to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, that would involved thousands more troops, vehicles, attack helicopters and large-scale commando raids.
Even so, he's urging Trump against picking a retired general as a running mate.
"We have a sufficient political class and the military doesn't have to get involved in high national office," he told The Washington Post. "The days of doing that, post-Civil War and post-World War II, are gone."
Troop is also rumored to be considering for the ticket New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, among others, according to The Boston Herald.
--Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
