Donald Trump is known for controversy and drama, but he wants a vice president who's reliable, low-drama and, above all, loyal.

• The norm-crushing former president, back campaigning after his felony conviction, wants a no-hassle running mate who might appeal to moderate Republicans left behind by Trump's MAGA machine.
• If you're thinking that sounds like Mike Pence, Trump's former vice president, you're not wrong.
• But Pence famously fell out of favor over his refusal to go along with Trump's plan to stop Congress' certification of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021 — making him the focus of death threats from Trump supporters.
• This time, the VP prospects' shows of loyalty — most recently as supporters at Trump's trial in New York — seemed especially significant.

Trump's campaign has requested financial and other documents from eight contenders:

• North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — Trump likes Burgum's measured demeanor and his experience as governor, Axios reported previously, as well as his success in business.
• Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) — Trump's top Senate ally and author of "Hillbilly Elegy" he's been lauded by allies as an articulate voice for populist conservatives. Vance is friends with Donald Trump Jr. and has said he initially wasn't a fan of the elder Trump but became a believer.
• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) came up as a traditional Republican under the wing of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and has experience in foreign policy, including working with Trump during his presidency.
• Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is well liked among his Senate Republican colleagues and a prolific fundraiser. He's worked on legislation with Trump in the past.
• Former HUD Secretary Ben Carson was a loyal cabinet member who served all of Trump's first term. He was a pediatric neurosurgeon before entering politics.
• Others being vetted include Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).

"Anyone claiming to know who or when President Trump will choose his VP is lying," Trump senior adviser Brian Hughes told Axios. "Unless the person is named Donald J. Trump."

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Republican Dave Reichert, a candidate for Washington governor, has joined a growing number of moderate Republicans distancing themselves from hardline views on abortion.

• In a video ad that will go on TV this summer, Reichert says that if elected in November he won't change Washington State's law that allows access to the procedure up to fetal viability, typically 24–26 weeks of pregnancy.
• "I do not believe any politician regardless of personal belief has the right to make that decision for any woman," Reichert says in the video.

It's the latest example of how some GOP candidates want to avoid being associated with conservative Republicans' push for state abortion restrictions — or even bans — after the Supreme Court's rejection of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

• Since then, Washington State has become a destination for women who are seeking the procedure but live in states with strict abortion laws.
• Reichert, a former congressman, is running against Bob Ferguson (D) to replace Gov. Jay Inslee (D) in Washington, where there hasn't been a Republican governor in more than four decades.

Reichert isn't the only GOP candidate creating space between themselves and the national GOP on abortion, particularly in states with strong Democratic or independent voter bases.

• Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H), running for governor in New Hampshire, also has said she wouldn't change her state's abortion law, which protects access up to six months of pregnancy.

Ayotte did not respond to a request to comment.

Reality check: Democrats and abortion-rights advocates have called out Reichert and Ayotte, citing their past votes and actions to question their commitment to ensuring abortion rights.

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President Biden vowed to "not walk away" from Ukraine during his remarks in Normandy, France, today — and took not-so-veiled jabs at Russia President Vladimir Putin's aggression and former President Trump's isolationist policies.

• Biden didn't mention Trump by name at the ceremony honoring the 80th anniversary of D-Day, but his comments were an implicit warning against Trump's "America First" stance.
• "Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today," Biden said.
• "We know the dark forces that these heroes fought against 80 years ago .... The struggle between dictatorship and freedom is unending."

He defended NATO, a frequent target of Trump, saying the alliance is "more united than ever," and said the U.S. and NATO "will not walk away [from Ukraine] because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated."

Biden, also without mentioning his name, called out Putin as a "tyrant bent on domination," in his war against Ukraine.

Biden previously accused Trump of ceding to Putin after the ex-president raised doubts about whether he'd keep the U.S. in NATO if he were re-elected.

• Trump said in February that he'd "encourage" Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to a NATO ally if that country were behind in covering its defense obligations to the alliance.
• He said in March that he'd keep the U.S. in NATO if other members pay their "fair share," but also said the U.S. would be fine outside NATO because "we have an ocean in between [us and] some problems."

• Steve Bannon, an ex-adviser to Trump, will have to begin a four-month prison sentence by July 1 after being convicted for contempt of Congress in 2022, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
• Bannon had been sentenced for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee, but the judge delayed his surrender date while he appealed.
• President Biden, meanwhile, said he wouldn't pardon his son Hunter, who's on trial for gun charges in Delaware and faces a trial on tax charges in September.
• In an interview with ABC News' David Muir at the Normandy American Cemetery in France, Biden said "yes" when asked whether he'd accept the outcome of Hunter's trial.