U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, speaks at Madison’s Lewis and Clark Regional Water System ribbon cutting on Aug. 21, 2024. At left is U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota. (Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight)
President Donald Trump issued a reelection endorsement Monday for South Dakota’s U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, days after Rounds helped pass Trump’s cancellation of previously approved funds for public broadcasting and foreign aid.
Rounds, a Republican former governor, is serving his second term in the U.S. Senate. He’s up for reelection next year.
In a message posted to social media, Trump described Rounds as an “incredibly strong advocate for the wonderful people of South Dakota.” Trump wrote that Rounds has his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
Rounds shared the endorsement on social media and thanked Trump, writing, “I look forward to working with you to make America even better!”
The endorsement came on the heels of Rounds helping to pass Trump’s recission of Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds last week.
Rounds had expressed concerns about canceling $1.1 billion of previously approved funding for the corporation. He announced his support after saying he’d negotiated with the Trump administration to move $9.4 million from an account within the Interior Department to at least two dozen Native American radio stations in multiple states that depend on the corporation for much of their funding.
The legislation also cancels about $8 billion in foreign aid spending that Congress had appropriated for dozens of programs, including global health initiatives. After Rounds announced his support, the bill advanced 51-50 on a procedural vote in the Senate, on its way to eventual passage.
The Trump endorsement completes a two-year political shift for Rounds, who endorsed U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, for president in May 2023 and did not attend Trump’s September 2023 rally with then-Gov. Kristi Noem in a Rapid City arena.
No Republican has come forward so far to challenge Rounds for the party’s nomination.
The other declared candidates for the Senate seat are Julian Beaudion, a Democratic business owner and former state trooper, and Brian Bengs, who is running as an independent after running unsuccessfully as a Democrat against Republican Sen. John Thune in 2022.
South Dakota’s primary election is June 2, 2026, and the general election is Nov. 3, 2026.
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