Robert F Kennedy Jr to drop out of presidential race by end of week - report

Robert F Kennedy Jr is set to drop his maverick campaign for president, it has been reported, amid speculation that the independent and environmental lawyer will throw his support behind Donald Trump.

The ABC network, citing "sources familiar with the decision", reported that Kennedy would formally leave the race on Friday. The report followed an announcement on his campaign website that he would make a statement that day "about the present historical moment and his path forward" in Phoenix that would be live-streamed on X and other social media.

Speculation that Kennedy could abandon his presidential bid intensified after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, revealed on a podcast on Tuesday he was considering that option - and considering endorsing Trump, the Republican nominee. Shanahan suggested Kennedy's continued candidacy risked diverting support away from Trump, thereby helping to elect Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

Her comments were immediately welcomed by Trump, who told CNN that Kennedy - who he denounced as recently as April as a "Democrat plant" and a "radical left liberal" - was "a brilliant guy".

"I didn't know he was thinking about getting out, but if he is thinking about getting out, certainly I'd be open to it," said Trump, who, perhaps not coincidentally, is also due to speak in the Phoenix area on Friday, at a campaign rally.

In truth, the pair seem to have been in contact for weeks amid an apparent rapprochement.

A leaked recording of a telephone call between them emerged last month during the Republican national convention - just days after Trump survived an assassination attempt - when the former president solicited Kennedy's support and the two discussed the possibility of Kennedy joining a future administration.

Trump also appeared to endorse some of the anti-vaccine theories, for which Kennedy has become noted, during the call.

In an interview with NBC News, JD Vance, Trump's running mate, acknowledged there had been a stream of "communication" between the two campaigns.

Kennedy initially sought the Democratic nomination before abandoning that attempt to launch an independent campaign.

His presidential bid has been hit by a spate of damaging stories that have undermined his efforts to present himself as a serious figure.

An allegation surfaced in a Vanity Fair article that he had groped a family babysitter, to which Kennedy responded not with a denial, but by saying: "I am not a church boy."

He added: "I said in my announcement speech that I have so many skeletons in my closet that if they could all vote, I could run for king of the world."

A further embarrassing disclosure was unearthed by the New Yorker, which described how Kennedy once left the carcass of a dead bear cub in Central Park and placed a bicycle next to it to make it look like an accident.

Kennedy pre-empted the article by posting a video on X of him admitting the episode in a conversation with Roseanne Barr, as the pair sat in a spacious kitchen.

The campaign has also run into money troubles in recent weeks, as Kennedy's poll standing has dropped. It reportedly ended July $3.5m in debt, while Shanahan - who has contributed her own funds to it - was recently given a $1m refund.