Trump to Seize Control of GOP Machine After Clinching Nomination

Nancy Cook
·4 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump will tighten his grip on the GOP on Friday when his allies are poised to take control of the Republican National Committee at a meeting in Houston, Texas.

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After sweeping the Super Tuesday primaries and virtually guaranteeing he’s the nominee, Trump has handpicked his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and Michael Whatley for top jobs in the party. They’re expected to receive enough votes from delegates to glide into the posts with no opposition, and their term will last past the election through January 2025.

The effective merging of the Trump campaign and the RNC is another step on the ex-president’s march toward total dominance over the party.

His few remaining GOP critics on Capitol Hill — including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose endorsement of Trump on Wednesday marked a last capitulation of the party establishment, or Senator Mitt Romney — are planning to step down from leadership or retire. The Supreme Court, on which three Trump-appointed judges sit, already handed down one key decision in Trump’s favor, requiring Colorado to reinstate him on the ballot, and may deliver another this spring when it rules in his case on presidential immunity.

Cash for Lawsuits?

On Trump’s RNC, Chris LaCivita – a senior aide and longtime political operator – will split his time between managing the party as chief operating officer and advising the presidential campaign. He’ll be joined by a Florida-based campaign aide, James Blair, who will also straddle the campaign and RNC to help on the political strategy, according to people briefed on the moves.

Staffers at the party are bracing for layoffs, with the newly-installed Trump team expected to overhaul the RNC office and personnel. Trump aides view the current RNC operation as insular and inexperienced when it comes to presidential campaigns.

One pressing question is whether the party will pay for part of Trump’s mounting legal expenses.

LaCivita said “no” definitively when asked at recent events in South Carolina, but Lara Trump left it an open question during campaign appearances for her father-in-law. She said she thought Republican voters would be open to helping pay for part of his legal expenses through donations.

Asked to comment, campaign spokesman Brian Hughes referred to LaCivita’s comment, and added “with President Trump at the top of the ballot, and with the RNC and Trump campaign bringing shared purpose and collaboration, November will see Republicans winning with a message of bringing common sense back for the nation.”

Current RNC members are worried about having to shoulder Trump’s legal bills. A resolution is being circulated that would prohibit the party from making such payments, but members privately say it won’t pass.

Instead, the question could rest on LaCivita’s word and the legal technicalities of using donor money for such purposes.

“I have never had an issue with any nominee putting their imprint on the committee. The important factor is senior staff, and Chris LaCivita, in my experience, is a pro and understands the role of the RNC in the presidential cycle,” said Bill Palatucci, an RNC member from New Jersey. “From there, it is the responsibility of the Executive Committee and the Budget Committee to ensure that the spending is appropriate.”

Trump critics — like his last Republican rival Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign after losing almost everywhere on Super Tuesday — have pounced on his takeover of the RNC.

“He’s putting his daughter-in-law at the helm, he’s having his campaign manager run it, and they’ve made it very clear that now the RNC is just about Donald Trump,” Haley told a campaign event in Washington last week. “He’s spent $60 million in campaign contributions on his own personal court cases. If this happens, all of a sudden, the RNC is going to be his legal slush fund.”

Within the new RNC, Lara Trump is expected to focus mostly on fundraising and public appearances, while Whatley, the current general counsel, will pay attention to voting mechanics and rules.

Both of them publicly have denied the results of the 2020 election, a baseless claim without evidence.

It’s common for the GOP’s presidential pick to essentially run the party in an election year. Still, by past standards, Trump’s subsuming of the party into his own campaign in the first few months of 2024 has been been swift and efficient.

“The nominee playing a major role at the RNC is quite normal,” said Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary for Trump, who served as the communications director and chief strategist of the RNC for six years. But Trump is taking over the party apparatus earlier than in past elections, he added.

--With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron and Gregory Korte.

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