(KLZA)--President Donald Trump has endorsed Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen's re-election bid. 
In a social media post on Truth Social Tuesday,  Trump said he gives his complete and total endoresement for re-election to Pillen for what he called “working tirelessly to Champion Nebraska Values.” 

Pillen, in a Tuesday afternoon response to the president on social media site X, wrote that he was “deeply honored to have earned” Trump’s endorsement.  

Charles Herbster, of Falls City, who lost his bid to be Governor in 2022 in the Republican primary to Pillen,  has been critical of the Governor.  Herbster told the Nebraska Examiner recently that, “Pillen’s shortcomings make it hard to say no” to running in 2026 and that he will decide closer to the new year.  

In a statement, Tuesday, Herbster said while he is disappointed in Trump’s endorsement, “it is entirely reasonable that he would endorse the incumbent Republican governor,”  and that he will continue to explore running for governor.

In 2022, Herbster had Trump’s endorsement, and the governor was backed by then-Gov. Pete Ricketts, whom Pillen appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2023.