President Donald Trump threw vulnerable Nevada GOP Sen. Dean Heller a lifeline Friday, nudging conservative primary challenger Danny Tarkanian out of that race and into one for a House seat.

It “would be great” if Heller “could run for Senate unopposed!” he wrote in a tweet. Trump urged “good guy” Tarkanian to end his bid to unseat Heller and run for the U.S. House instead.

About an hour later, the son of NCAA hoops coaching legend Jerry Tarkanian announced he would not challenge Heller. Instead, he intends to run in the state’s open race for its 3rd District seat — with the president’s endorsement. In 2016, Tarkanian lost an open-seat bid for the same seat to Democrat Jacky Rosen, the third time he lost a bid for Congress.

In a statement, Tarkanian said Trump and his political team contacted him on Wednesday. They asked him to “consider supporting the America First agenda as a Congressional candidate by running again in CD3, where I nearly won in 2016 in what was one of the most expensive and closest Congressional races in America,” he said.

“This was not something I ever considered,” Tarkanian said. “I am confident I would have won the U.S. Senate race and done a great job representing the people of Nevada in the Senate, but the president is adamant that a unified Republican ticket in Nevada is the best direction for the ‘America First’ movement.