Lee Zeldin endorses Donald Trump for president

Former Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin is backing Donald Trump’s comeback bid for president — weeks after saying he preferred a “robust Republican field” in 2024.

Zeldin, who mounted a strong campaign against Democrat  Kathy Hochul in last year’s New York gubernatorial race, made the surprise announcement on Twitter.

“The GOP is filled with amazing talent to save our country from the failed policies of the Biden Admin. Our nominee in 2024 will be the 45th & 47th POTUS, Donald Trump,” he wrote.

“Our economy will be stronger, our streets will be safer, & our lives will be freer. He has my full support!”

Zeldin’s endorsement was immediately trumpeted by the 76-year-old Trump’s “Make America Great Again” political action committee.

The ex-congressman has emerged as one of the most influential Republicans in New York after coming within five points of unseating Hochul in the deep-blue Empire State.

Zeldin even considered running to become the Republican National Committee chairman, but opted not to — saying at the time that incumbent chair Ronna McDaniel’s re-election was “pre-baked.”

His endorsement comes just weeks after Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury over hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal ahead of the 2016 election — the first-ever criminal case against a former US president.

But many Republicans believe the case brought by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is a politically motivated hit.

Trump faces other ongoing probes exploring issues ranging from his handling of classified documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago estate to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot to pressuring Georgia lawmakers to overturn the Peach State’s 2020 election results.

Zeldin served in Congress with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who polls show is Trump’s strongest potential Republican foe in a GOP primary.

DeSantis campaigned for Zeldin on Long Island during his race against Hochul, and Zeldin introduced DeSantis when the Florida governor came to Staten Island for a pro-law enforcement event in February.

DeSantis has not officially thrown his hat in the ring for a White House run but is expected to do so early next month.

He has stumped around the country and visited Japan Monday, where he met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Zeldin’s backing shows that Trump, a native New Yorker who lived in the Big Apple nearly his entire life before officially switching his official residence to Florida in 2019, will be formidable in his home state GOP primary.

New York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox previously told The Post he will remain neutral before the primary and argued that all Republican candidates should have the opportunity to stump in the state.

Zeldin sounded a similar note last month, telling The Post: “If there’s a big, robust primary that gets Republican primary voters more engaged earlier, Republican volunteers more active earlier, it’ll generate more media [and] excitement.”

Zeldin joins other notable New York endorsers of Trump, including upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik, the House Republican conference chair, who became the first member of GOP leadership to back the former president in November.