Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today filed the necessary documents with the state of Arizona to withdraw from the presidential election, Arizona Secretary of the Interior Adrian Fontes said.

The retirement is being announced as Kennedy addresses the nation today in Arizona.

Kennedy, 70, son of the late Democratic politician and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, had begun his presidential campaign as a Democrat, seeking the party’s presidential nomination as an intra-party challenger of President Joe Biden.

The deal with Trump

The political action committee (super PAC) backing Kennedy told Reuters on Wednesday that the candidate wants a deal with Donald Trump to back his Republican opponent with in return a position in an eventual Trump administration.

Trump told CNN this week that he is “certainly open” to the prospect of Kennedy playing a role in his administration if the independent candidate drops out of the race and endorses him.

Kennedy, his vice presidential running mate Nicole Shanahan and 11 of his presidential electors have issued notices of voluntary withdrawal, Fondes said in an X entry.

Kennedy’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.