The 50 Most Powerful People In Trump’s Washington*

Shades of Power in the Age of Trump

Yes, Trump ran to obliterate the old order in D.C. But power? Power can’t be destroyed. In Washington, power shape-shifts. It falls into new hands, gets put to new use. And now more than ever, power is popping up in some very weird places. To find out where, we polled the city’s clout class—the Old Guard and the newcomers alike—and determined who holds real sway.


<cite class="credit">Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images.</cite>
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images.

1. Hope Hicks, White House Communications Director

Strange are the things that can happen in an age such as this—when a guy like Donald Trump can become president. Things like: A 29-year-old, just three years removed from a gig with Ivanka Trump's fashion line (doing PR mostly but also a little modeling, too), can become the president's most trusted aide. With a boss who blew into Washington distrustful of the natives, Hicks is among the last of the original campaign staffers to remain by Trump's side. And in a West Wing where power is measured by proximity to the president, her presence there is a constant.

Inside Trump World, she is regarded as a de facto member of the royal family, with all the deference that confers. “Hope is feared and revered in the West Wing,” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway tells us. But she remains unburdened by the baggage—nepotism laws, grand-jury investigations, brand stigma—that afflicts the actual Trumps.

The key to her power? She avoids the spotlight and serves ruthlessly. It's been enough to help her evade the wrath of Trump and the scrutiny of the media (if not the growing curiosity of Robert Mueller). Even when scandal inches close, as it did earlier this month when the White House bungled the dismissal of staff secretary Rob Porter—who Hicks was said to have dated—she emerges, influence seemingly intact. For now, she's still directing (or deflecting) much of what comes at Trump. “To the public, she remains in the background,” says Conway. “To the president, she is front and center.”

<cite class="credit">Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg/Getty Images.</cite>
Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

2. Mike Pence, Vice President

You think he's quietly positioning himself for the presidency? He's acting more like he's already got the job. Pence, who pressed his prerogatives during the transition, has stocked the Cabinet and the federal agencies with arch-conservative allies and set himself up as a crucial link to congressional Republicans who turn to him to discover what the hell the actual president is doing. All the while his shameless lickspittlery keeps him in the boss's good graces. In a West Wing run by a novice clown, the stolid hack is king.

<cite class="credit">Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.</cite>
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.

3. Robert Mueller, Special Counsel, Justice Department

Consider this man's place in the public consciousness. He's never seen or heard from, and yet he never drifts from the bull's-eyed center of national attention. The intrigue is deserved. After all, the fate of Donald Trump's presidency—now out of his own tiny hands and in Mueller's proportionally sized ones—hinges on what the former FBI director turns up in his probe of Russian election-meddling. But it's not just the White House Mueller could be influencing. Should he find something sensational and release a report this year, he could turn the midterms into a referendum on impeachment, and maybe swing Congress, too.

<cite class="credit">From left: Mark Wilson/Getty Images; Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images.</cite>
From left: Mark Wilson/Getty Images; Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images.

4. Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader & Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader

Republicans live in mortal fear that Schumer and Pelosi—or “Chuck and Nancy,” in Trumpspeak—will get the president alone and trick him somehow. That's what they did last fall at the White House, striking a deal on immigration reform—before panicked Republicans and White House staffers persuaded Trump to renege. Rarely is the minority this powerful. “It's hard to imagine minority leader [John] Boehner or minority leader [Mitch] McConnell ever being able to pull a fast one on President Obama,” one Democrat says, “but Chuck and Nancy are able to do that because of who this president is.”

<cite class="credit">Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images</cite>
Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

5. Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

In a Cabinet that doesn't get much done, Pruitt has been dangerously effective. Granted, his job entails neutering the very bureaucracy he runs. On his watch, the EPA has outsourced its decision-making to the fossil-fuel and chemical industries—just like Trump said it would. A rare campaign promise kept. Heckuva job, Scotty!

<cite class="credit">Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images.</cite>
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images.

6. Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader

Years from now, historians will make the case that he was the most consequential politician of the early 21st century. He scuttled every attempt Obama made at compromise—and even denied him an appointment to the Supreme Court—which in turn persuaded countless conservatives to hold their noses and vote for Trump. Is he fond of the president? No, but as long as Trump's bill-signing hand works to cut the taxes of the GOP donor class, McConnell is as pleased as can be.

<cite class="credit">Molly Riley/AP.</cite>
Molly Riley/AP.

7. Marty Baron, Editor of ‘The Washington Post’

Running the resurgent Post, Baron today commands more journalistic firepower than any editor in town. And he uses it: upending Alabama's 2017 Senate race (uncovering Judge Roy Moore's troubling history with young women) and gobbling more than his share of Trump-era scoops.

<cite class="credit">Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Bloomberg/Getty Images.</cite>
Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

8. John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff

Commanding Marines in Iraq? Hard. Bringing order to Trump's White House? Ha! But the former general has been trying. Mostly by restricting the litany of people who can get in the president's ear and the number of InfoWars articles that can get into his hands. Kelly's perch may not be as secure as he would like—among other headaches, he's currently locked in a battle with Jared Kushner over the First Son-in-Law's security clearance—but as long as Kelly is in command of Trump's White House, he remains a formidable force.

<cite class="credit">Mark Reinstein/Corbis/Getty Images.</cite>
Mark Reinstein/Corbis/Getty Images.

9. Corry Bliss, Head of the Congressional Leadership Fund

The 37-year-old operative—who's run campaigns all over the country—has a huge job: saving the GOP's House majority in 2018. And as the guy in charge of House Speaker Paul Ryan's super-PAC, Bliss has $100 million to get it done. “He controls an enormous pool of money, and the entire fate of the party rests in his hands,” one GOP operative explains. That kind of responsibility—with that kind of war chest—gives monstrous new influence to a guy who, it's said, isn't afraid to make enemies if he has to. What'll count as a win in November? Stopping Dems from gaining 24 seats. That'd keep Ryan and Co. in office—and likely earn Bliss an even bigger role in shaping the party's future.

<cite class="credit">Cheriss May/NurPhoto/Getty Images.</cite>
Cheriss May/NurPhoto/Getty Images.

10. Mark Meadows, North Carolina Representative

As the chairman of the Freedom Caucus—the most rigidly conservative House Republicans—Meadows is a perpetual thorn in House Speaker Paul Ryan's side. Which, perhaps, is why Trump pays him so much attention. On everything from health care to immigration, he doesn't so much have Trump's ear; he wags Trump's tail.

<cite class="credit">Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images.</cite>
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images.

11. Stephen Miller, Senior Adviser to the President

Despite playing a hotheaded ideologue on TV—and also in real life—the 32-year-old Miller has been careful negotiating the internal politics of Trump World, even as his patrons, Jeff Sessions and Steve Bannon, have fallen out of favor. With zeal, Miller now presses the White House's hard-line case on immigration (and holds Trump to his tough promises). In a West Wing buffeted by chaos, he remains, in the words of one former Trump adviser, the “conservative anchor.”

<cite class="credit">Zach Gibson/Bloomberg/Getty Images.</cite>
Zach Gibson/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

12. James Mattis, Secretary of Defense

Is it jarring to think that the only thing standing between Trump and his great big nuclear button is a guy nicknamed Mad Dog? Maybe, but the former Marine general—the Cabinet member with whom Trump perhaps talks most—is credited with instilling calm and keeping the peace. He's even managed to successfully disagree with Trump—a rare feat, indeed! In addition to protecting America from its enemies, he's seemingly tasked himself with protecting America from the impulsivity of its commander in chief. So, In Dog We Trust?

<cite class="credit">Roy Rochlin/Getty Images.</cite>
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images.

13. Fox & Friends

More American presidents get their FBI conspiracy theories here than from any other source!

<cite class="credit">Kham/AFP/Getty Images.</cite>
Kham/AFP/Getty Images.

14. Robert Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative

For all the threat of nuclear war, don't forget: Trump promised trade wars, too. And nobody will be more essential in the battles with China—or the much ballyhooed dismantling of NAFTA—than his chief negotiator, who tends to a portfolio of grievances of maximum importance to Trump voters. “Trade is the beating heart of Trumpism,” Steve Bannon notes. “Lighthizer is the tip of the spear.”

<cite class="credit">Roger Kisby/Redux.</cite>
Roger Kisby/Redux.

15. Maggie Haberman, ‘New York Times’ White House Correspondent

Trump calls her “a third-rate reporter.” Her colleagues call her the best journalist on the White House beat—something that even Trump seems to realize, since he grants her more interviews than just about anyone (Sean Hannity not included).

<cite class="credit">Mark Peterson/Redux.</cite>
Mark Peterson/Redux.

16. Anthony Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice

For years, he's been the Court's swing vote. Now, with rumors swirling that the 81-year-old might retire, he's attracting new attention. If he bolts, Trump could change the Court for a generation. Liberals, searching for some signs of hope, celebrated the recent news that Kennedy has hired new clerks for this fall's term.

<cite class="credit">Patrick McMullan/Getty Images.</cite>
Patrick McMullan/Getty Images.

17. Rebekah Mercer, Heiress/GOP Mega-Donor

Aggressive in her spending and in her far-right views, Mercer—along with her father, Robert, the hedge-fund baron and spigot from which the family's political largesse flows—rose from obscurity by bankrolling Steve Bannon (for a time), kick-starting Breitbart News, and then buying into the Trump campaign at its nadir. That investment gave her an outsize say in staffing his government and solidified her title as “the First Lady of the alt-right.” Still, her ambitions (beyond gaining influence) and policy objectives can be sometimes tough to discern. Lately, she's been ramping up investments in climate-change denial—a move that's re-ignited calls to toss her from the board of New York's American Museum of Natural History.

<cite class="credit">Isaac Brekken/Getty Images.</cite>
Isaac Brekken/Getty Images.

18. Tom Steyer, Financier

Last year, the billionaire spent $20 million trying to impeach Trump. This year, he'll give $30 million to help Democrats win Congress. “If he wants to be a national voice for the future of the party, he's doing the right things,” says one Democratic operative, noting that Steyer's motives matter. “If he spends the money to help himself and tries to make it look like he's helping the party, it isn't going to pay too many dividends.”

<cite class="credit">Heidi Gutman/ABC/Getty Images.</cite>
Heidi Gutman/ABC/Getty Images.

19. Rachel Maddow, Host of MSNBC'S 'The Rachel Maddow Show’

In this media age of push alerts and maniac tweets, Maddow's suddenly novel approach—wise, intricate monologues—feels somehow exhilarating. And essential.

<cite class="credit">Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images.</cite>
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

20. Susan Molinari, Vice President for Public Policy at Google

Back in the day, being Google's top lobbyist seemed like a pretty plum gig. After all, everybody in town wanted to be aligned with the tech darling. Now that Washington thinks Silicon Valley could use a bit of regulating—on everything from anti-trust issues to sex trafficking—the work has gotten trickier. This has only made Molinari, a former Republican member of Congress, more important in Washington. And not just on the policy points. “What distinguishes Susan,” says Erin Egan, an exec in Facebook's D.C. office, “is her work to recruit and mentor the next generation of women in technology.”

<cite class="credit">Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images</cite>
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images

21. Bernie Sanders, Vermont Senator

While Hillary Clinton has retreated to Chappaqua, the lion of the grassroots left stands to become a 2020 Democratic kingmaker. Kind of remarkable for an outsider who, for a long time, barely considered himself a member of the party. That's changing. Following the election, Senate Democrats created an “outreach chairman” position for Sanders, their socialist pal. In January, when he hosted a rinky-dink town hall to chat about health care, more than a million viewers tuned in live online. “Sanders,” DNC associate chair Jaime Harrison concedes, “still has tremendous influence in the party.”

<cite class="credit">William B. Plowman/NBC/NBCNewsWire/Getty Images.</cite>
William B. Plowman/NBC/NBCNewsWire/Getty Images.

22. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Senator

It's rare to find a Republican who can appeal to both a #NeverTrumper like Bill Kristol and to, well, Trump. Cotton has somehow managed such a feat, by backing the president without backing away from the Establishment. “Tom bet big, and he bet early, and he won,” says one GOP lobbyist. “He's on a hot streak.” The neocons love his hawkishness. Trump admires his hard-line immigration views. Toss in the fact that Democrats loathe him, and the ambitious 40-year-old has the résumé for a bright future in the GOP.

<cite class="credit">Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images.</cite>
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images.

23. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon/Owner of ‘The Washington Post’

His first Washington remains the one out west, but Bezos is growing his presence in D.C. In addition to owning the Post and a thriving business in federal-government cloud computing, he's got a giant real estate project on his hands, having spent $23 million on the city's priciest house: a 27,000-square-foot colossus. Could it be a coincidence that three of the finalist sites for Amazon's new HQ are in the D.C. area?

<cite class="credit">Jacquelyn Martin/AP.</cite>
Jacquelyn Martin/AP.

24. Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission

The ambitious 45-year-old led the charge to repeal net neutrality, gutting regulations for Internet providers and giving new powers to big broadband companies. And in true Trumpian fashion, he made his case by releasing a viral Internet video in which he dressed up as Santa Claus, played with a fidget spinner, and generally trolled his critics. The deregulation move earned him the adoration of Internet companies (and reportedly a few death threats). This year, he'll find himself at the center of a new debate: whether the government, for national-security reasons, should take over 5G networks. The big telecom firms, of course, oppose the idea. So does Pai, naturally.

<cite class="credit">Drew Angerer/Getty Images.</cite>
Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

25. Steve Bannon, Former White House Chief Strategist

True, he was rebuked by Trump and lost his control of Breitbart News. But in Trump World, exile is rarely permanent, and Bannon continues to work out of Breitbart's Capitol Hill HQ. There, he says, he's plotting a new entity to advance his right-wing populist revolution. The venture, Bannon tells us cryptically, will involve “weaponizing ideas.”

<cite class="credit">Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images.</cite>
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images.

26. Johnny DeStefano, Director of Presidential Personnel

In a White House without much in the way of Washington experience, the 39-year-old DeStefano—once a top aide to John Boehner—is the unlikely D.C. veteran. And he's steadily growing a portfolio that includes hiring and firing across the administration. He's now also the point person reaching out to interest groups—meaning he's the guy making sure Trump's all-important base stays happy. “I certainly never thought he'd thrive like he has,” one former Republican staffer says. “I just wouldn't have thought nice guys would get ahead in the Trump White House. He's the exception that proves the rule. Everyone likes Johnny. He's a man without enemies, which is pretty rare in Republican politics these days.”

<cite class="credit">Marc Serota/The New York Times/Redux.</cite>
Marc Serota/The New York Times/Redux.

27. Chris Ruddy, C.E.O. of Newsmax

To the vexation of the White House staff, Trump spends many evenings gabbing on the phone with a kitchen cabinet of rich-guy pals—fellas like Ruddy, who now enjoy incredible access to a famously impressionable POTUS. What's that like? To find out, we gave Ruddy a ring. Just like Trump does.

GQ: Are you scared that one night on the phone, you might offer some throwaway line about North Korea and wake up to discover you've dictated foreign policy?

CR: I'm not scared about anything I say, but sometimes I might say something in confidence. The president doesn't have a lot of filters. He's candid oftentimes with what people tell him with other people, and sometimes you don't necessarily want that shared.

GQ: So, just to be clear, you're saying the president's a leaker?

CR: No. He speaks his mind. He's a political genius.

<cite class="credit">Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images.</cite>
Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images.

28. Jake Tapper, CNN Chief Washington Correspondent

Tapper left ABC for CNN and then supplanted the network anchors as the face of gravitas in a political world gone mad. Just don't get him started about Stephen Miller.

<cite class="credit">Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images.</cite>
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images.

29. Richard Burr, North Carolina Senator

The chair of the Senate Intelligence committee investigating Russian election meddling, Burr has maintained a bipartisan tenor—giving it an air of legitimacy that the House investigation sorely lacks. More so than anyone on the Hill, he'll determine Congress's response to the Russia affair.

<cite class="credit">Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.</cite>
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

30. Barack Obama, Former President of the United States

He splits his time in D.C. between an $8 million mansion in Kalorama and a rent-free space in Trump's head. So far, Obama has mostly avoided rebuking Trump, but his presence in town remains a specter, while his Twitter following remains far larger than Trump's. Not that size concerns Trump.

<cite class="credit">Joe Raedle/Getty Images.</cite>
Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

31. Mike Pompeo, Director of the C.I.A.

Pompeo needed only six years to go from being an unremarkable Tea Party congressman to running the CIA, but it is the trust he's earned from Trump—to whom he personally delivers a daily intelligence briefing, peppered with his own sage advice—that suggests loftier perches await. “He spends a ton of time at the White House,” notes a former GOP staffer, “and he's become a major crutch for Trump on matters that extend well beyond intelligence issues.” Whenever Rex Tillerson decides he's had enough of being secretary of state, Pompeo will likely slide into that role.

<cite class="credit">Brad Barket/Getty Images.</cite>
Brad Barket/Getty Images.

32. Ezra Levin & Leah Greenberg, Co-Founders of Indivisible

Both former Democratic congressional aides, the husband-and-wife duo helm Indivisible, one of the leading Resistance groups to emerge after Trump's election. Should Democrats manage to take back the House in 2018, it won't be because of the DNC. It'll be because of Indivisible and like-minded grassroots groups.

“They've built something that is wide, deep, and, if I were a Republican, scary,” says one grateful Democratic operative. “I think of them as the Tea Party for the majority. They have the grassroots enthusiasm, energy, depth, and reach that the Tea Party had, but more than that, they're tapping into where the majority of the country is. If Democrats win the House or Senate in 2018, one of the first thank-yous will have to be to the Indivisible organizations that were built in the districts and the states that flipped.”

<cite class="credit">Joe Scarnici/Getty Images.</cite>
Joe Scarnici/Getty Images.

33. Juleanna Glover, Republican Lobbyist

For all that talk of swamp draining, Glover—a former aide to Dick Cheney—remains a key figure where the city's social and policy scenes meet. Her dinner parties are a refuge for establishment Republicans in a sort of exile. Says fellow power-convener Tammy Haddad: “Washington still works because Juleanna is ‘fixing’ every day.”

<cite class="credit">Mark Peterson/Redux.</cite>
Mark Peterson/Redux.

34. Leonard Leo, Executive Vice President of the Federalist Society

Judicial appointments have been the Trump administration's biggest early success. We're talking about Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch, sure, but also 12 new appellate judges. The reason it's working so smoothly? The job has largely been farmed out to Leo, who for years has been cultivating a deep bench of potential right-wing jurists. Now he's getting the chance to empty it.

<cite class="credit">Charles Rex Arbogast/AP.</cite>
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP.

35. Wayne Berman, Businessman

A GOP operator, now with the private-equity behemoth Blackstone, Berman's been mentioned for big roles inside the administration (rumored last year as possible chief of staff, for instance). But in an age when tax cuts and deregulation reign, there's power—and profit—aplenty on the outside.

Watch

Keith Olbermann: Why We Must Talk About Trump's Mental Health

See the video.
<cite class="credit">Jon Enoch/eyevine/Redux.</cite>
Jon Enoch/eyevine/Redux.

36. Carrie Budoff Brown, Editor of Politico

Once a notorious boys' club, Politico is flexing more muscle than ever under Budoff Brown, who runs the agenda-setting newsroom and the lucrative subscription business that keeps the city's influence industry in the know.

<cite class="credit">Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.</cite>
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.

37. Jared Kushner/Ivanka Trump, White House Advisers

Sure, they've lost a good deal of their luster since the early days of the Trump administration. Not only has Jared failed to bring peace to the Middle East; it was reportedly his brilliant idea to fire James Comey as director of the FBI (the blunder, of course, that ushered in Robert Mueller's investigation). Ivanka, meanwhile, was the driving force behind hiring one Anthony Scaramucci, who ran White House communications for a hot and frenzied second last summer. Even the president is said to have worried about the beating the young pair, especially his beloved daughter, have taken in the press for their screwups and failures. But when the chips are down, there's no one Trump trusts more than his family. Which is why it's been rumored that Ivanka is in charge of finding her father's next chief of staff.

<cite class="credit">Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images.</cite>
Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images.

38. Vladimir Putin, Russian President

He's not in D.C., of course, but his dark presence is felt. Does Putin have the dirt to cripple Trump? Does he have the hackers to cripple the power grid? What is he planning? What has he done? The confusion is the objective. Menace and mystery grant him power. “Putin is like a local Mafia extortionist,” says the investor turned activist Bill Browder, who's fought for sanctions on Putin's regime. “He burns down a couple of houses and looks meanly at everyone else, who desperately try to avoid any conflict with him.”

<cite class="credit">Paul Morigi/Getty Images.</cite>
Paul Morigi/Getty Images.

39. Stephanie Schriock, President of Emily's List

If a blue wave comes in November, it'll have a distinctly pink hue to it. Nearly 400 women are said to be planning a run for the House, and nearly 50 for the Senate. As the head of the venerable PAC dedicated to electing pro-choice women, Schriock is helping to support a ton of them.

<cite class="credit">Cheriss May/NurPhoto/Getty Images.</cite>
Cheriss May/NurPhoto/Getty Images.

40. Dan Scavino, White House Director of Social Media

He began as Trump's golf caddie. Today, he tends to Trump's Twitter grudges as the guy firing off many of Trump's tweets (often dictated to him by the POTUS). He also operates his own attack-dog Twitter account and handles messaging on the White House's more official social-media channels. It's a lot of passwords and feuds to juggle. As one former Trump adviser says admiringly (and maybe a little sarcastically), Scavino is “the man who did so much with so little.”

<cite class="credit">Ray Tamarra/GC Images/Getty Images.</cite>
Ray Tamarra/GC Images/Getty Images.

41. ‘Pod Save America’ Podcast Hosts

That old adage about the revolution not being televised? Rings true. But it might be podcasted. Helmed by former Obama aides—Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer, and Tommy Vietor—Pod Save America has become the voice of the Resistance. Once the hosts had the ear of the POTUS; now they've got the earbuds of 1.5 million liberal listeners. Which is why it seems like every ambitious Democrat wants to be booked as a guest on their show.

<cite class="credit">Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images.</cite>
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

42. Susan Collins, Maine Senator

With Republicans clinging to a one-vote majority in the Senate, Collins has suddenly got leverage galore. Will she use it? Last year, she let Mitch McConnell skate on his promise to pass a couple of her health-care bills in exchange for her vote on tax cuts. Now she's leading a bipartisan group of 25 centrists trying to fix the Senate. Here's hoping she has some luck with that project.

<cite class="credit">John Lamparski/Getty Images.</cite>
John Lamparski/Getty Images.

43. Jesse Watters, Fox News Host

Until recently, he was just Bill O'Reilly's attack dog, ambushing liberals and mocking foreigners. Now he's a fixture on Fox: hosting shows, dishing aggrieved snark, and interviewing the president (despite making a blow-job joke about Trump's eldest daughter). If the media is key to democracy, the ascendant Watters is key to our idiocracy.

<cite class="credit">Ethan Miller/Getty Images.</cite>
Ethan Miller/Getty Images.

44. Alexander Ovechkin, Captain Of The Washington Capitals

The Russian is guiding the Caps toward what could be the city's first major sports title since 1992. But it's his affection for Putin, an old pal, that raises eyebrows. Last fall, Ovechkin announced a social-media campaign called “Putin Team” to drum up support. Just a friendly gesture, he said. Totally his idea. “I don't try to be politics man,” Ovechkin told the press.

<cite class="credit">Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg/Getty Images.</cite>
Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg/Getty Images.

45. Sheldon Adelson, Casino Magnate/ GOP Mega-Donor

His big bet on Trump is paying off. Proof? In December, the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel at Adelson's urging. “From his perspective, he's seeing results,” says Republican operative Ryan Williams.

<cite class="credit">Steve Jennings/Getty Images.</cite>
Steve Jennings/Getty Images.

46. Laurene Powell Jobs, Founder, Emerson Collective

Washington loves its civic-minded billionaires, and Steve Jobs's widow is the newest. She's the founder and president of Emerson Collective, a broad-focussed non-profit named for Ralph Waldo Emerson. Last year, she snapped up a big chunk of the Wizards and the Capitals and she​ also acquired a majority stake in The Atlantic—the venerable magazine that Emerson himself co-founded.

<cite class="credit">Linda Davidson/The Washington Post/Getty Images.</cite>
Linda Davidson/The Washington Post/Getty Images.

47. Mickael Damelincourt, Managing Director, Trump International Hotel, Washington

Once, Georgetown hostesses presided over the capital's social life, but now that chore falls to Damelincourt. Under his purview, the bar, ballrooms, and steak house at Trump's notorious hotel host a nightly parade of lawmakers and foreign dignitaries. Not to mention the slew of Trump World notables who flutter about (or keep rooms upstairs, like Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin or economic adviser Gary Cohn). Damelincourt, who's toiled for the Trumps for years, is now more than a mere innkeeper—he's running a grand American theme park devoted to Trumpism.

<cite class="credit">Bryan Steffy/Getty Images.</cite>
Bryan Steffy/Getty Images.

48. José Andrés, Restaurateur

Andrés, the dean of the D.C. culinary scene, once merited mention on this list for his restaurants alone—spots like Minibar and Zaytinya. But the Spanish-born chef is now raising an activist voice and making enemies of the First Family. The rancor started when he pulled out of a deal to open a new restaurant in Trump's D.C. hotel (after Trump criticized Mexican immigrants). Then Andrés blasted the White House's response to Hurricane Maria and organized his own relief mission to Puerto Rico, serving meals to millions. In January, the spiciest spat in town flared up anew after Andrés was turned away at a Georgetown soiree and took to Twitter to blame Ivanka. When she denied it, he used the moment in the spotlight to press for her help on immigration reform.

<cite class="credit">Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images.</cite>
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images.

49. Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security

Known in the West Wing for her no-nonsense manner during a brief stint last year as John Kelly's deputy chief of staff, Nielsen—who served in the last Bush administration—became Trump's surprise pick to head DHS in October. Now, sitting at the center of fights over DACA and Trump's border wall, her time in the hot seat is just beginning.

50. The Myriad Ghosts of Trump's Political Past

Top row: Anthony Scaramucci. Sean Spicer. Reince Priebus. Corey Lewandowski. / Bottom row: Mike Flynn. Paul Manafort. Sebastian Gorka. Omarosa.

To a remarkable degree, Donald Trump's present is defined by the people of his past, those who've been kicked to the curb, often in dramatic fashion. Despite that, they tend to stay in the mix—making plea deals with Robert Mueller, hatching dirty tricks behind the scenes, or providing pro-Trump jeremiads on Sinclair television. Of course, it's often Trump himself who keeps them relevant by never fully ejecting them from his orbit. And the most lucrative forms of afterlife are only now taking shape. “The book comes out July 23,” former White House press secretary Sean Spicer tells us. “We've already sold the U.S. and Canadian rights.”

This story originally appeared in the March 2018 issue.