Facing a re-election battle, New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte has put her disagreements with presidential candidate Donald Trump in the spotlight — she will vote for Trump in the presidential election, but will not endorse him.
"While he has my vote, he doesn't have my endorsement," the senator told CNN. "I'm going to continue to focus on my race and getting out to people what I have done and getting results for people in New Hampshire."
"Everyone gets a vote, I do too. An endorsement is when you are campaigning with someone."
Trump criticized Ayotte, saying she had given him no support and was not loyal to the party. However, he had a change of heart and eventually gave her his formal endorsement.
"When he criticizes me, I just said very clearly if I have his endorsement or not, I'm going to continue calling it like I see it for the people of New Hampshire," the senator told CNN.
Ayotte criticized Trump's proposal to ban Muslims and his war of words with the Khans, a Gold Star family, according to The Washington Post.
CNN asked Ayotte if she trusts Trump around the nuclear weapon codes that a president would be able to access. She pointed out the "checks and balances" that the president is subject to, and added, "When he is elected, if he is elected, I would hope that he will surround himself with very knowledgeable people."
She also plans to hold her own party accountable.
"I will take on my own party," she said. I really believe that this is a big issue in this race—that I am the one candidate that will stand up to whomever is in the White House to do good things when we can work together."
The senator is also focusing in on her opponent, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, saying that Hassan will be a strict supporter of the Democrats.
"The people of New Hampshire need to know are you ever going to disagree with your nominee? And unfortunately, Gov. Hassan has not," she told CNN.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.