Is RFK Jr. dropping out of the presidential race? What to know

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly ending his campaign as soon as Friday, though he has not made a public statement committing to any course of action.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Kennedy is in “advanced discussions” with former President Donald Trump about leaving the race and endorsing him.
“I am going to address the nation this Friday,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.
His campaign announced that he will speak “about the present historical moment and his path forward” on Friday at noon in Phoenix. Trump is scheduled to speak in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, the same day.
Kennedy has apparently been having in-person meetings and phone calls with Trump as far back as the Republican National Convention in July.
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The Post is reporting Kennedy plans to endorse Trump.
Earlier this month, after a meeting with Trump during the Republican National Convention, Kennedy’s campaign reportedly reached out to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’s staff to discuss endorsing her in exchange for a cabinet appointment in her prospective administration.
The Harris campaign reportedly declined that offer.
At his peak, Kennedy had been polling in the low double digits but, today, the New York Times national average shows Kennedy polling at 4%. That’s compared to Harris’s 46% and Trump’s 44%.
Kennedy’s campaign has put forward the idea, backed up by polls it commissioned, that his endorsement and cooperation would give whichever candidate he endorses a significant boost.
Kennedy’s running mate Nicole Shanahan, in a Tuesday episode of the business podcast Impact Theory, that “There’s two options that we’re looking at, and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency … or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump.”
In an email from Kennedy’s campaign manager Amaryllis Fox Kennedy to campaign staff, which was later shared with the Washington Post, Fox Kennedy said to “hold tight” and that multiple plans still remained on the table.
“What I can tell you is this,” she said. “Bobby has been in a period of deep discernment.”
“I ask you to keep an open mind. Do not believe everything you hear. There are several paths forward — not only two. And I can bear witness to the care and examination that Bobby is investing in consideration of each,” Fox Kennedy said.
Trump told Fox and Friends on Thursday that, “If (Kennedy) endorsed me, I would be honored by it. I would be very honored by it.”
“He really has his heart in the right place. He is a respected person. Women love some of his policies, and I guess some people don’t like some of his policies,” he said.
Trump had told CNN earlier this week that he was “open” to the idea of Kennedy participating in his administration should he win the White House race.