In early 2021, as former President Donald J. Trump was about to leave the White House, he announced in a private conversation with Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel that he would return in 2024. He has hinted that he may run for the White House. Republican but as a third party candidate.
Trump quickly retracted the idea. Three years later, the rest is pretty much history. Following last month's victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, Trump is once again on the brink of becoming the official standard-bearer of the Republican Party.
Despite Trump's sometimes checkered history, with most party officials wary of him when he first won the Republican nomination in 2016, opinions of the former president and his party are now are nearly identical, which shows how much the Republican Party has changed over the past eight years.
As members of the Republican National Committee gathered in Las Vegas this week for their winter meetings, the party machine's impending remarriage to Mr. Trump generated only a small amount of resistance. Rather, much of the drama and discussion on the sidelines was about how Mr. Trump seeks to make his mark on his party's leadership.
Will it be a major acquisition? What will be Mr. McDaniel's fate? And what does that mean for the party's strained finances?
One of the central questions on the sidelines of the Las Vegas rally was whether Mr. McDaniel, who remains party chairman, would remain in office until the end of his term. Trump first appointed McDaniel in 2016 and has worked closely and directly with her for years. But in private, the former president has begun to question the direction of the RNC under his own leadership, according to people familiar with his remarks. Mr. McDaniel has indicated he would resign if the Republican candidate so desires.
The night Trump won New Hampshire, McDaniel appeared on national television and declared that Trump was the “ultimate” candidate and that it was important for people to unite behind him. Ms. McDaniel's comments displeased some institutionalist voices within the party, but even supporters of Mr. Trump's only major rival, Nikki Haley, expressed concern that she was on the path to winning the nomination. admitted that it was dangerously steep.
Immediately after New Hampshire, one of Mr. McDaniel's aides traveled to Palm Beach to meet with Trump campaign leadership as part of talks about how integration would unfold. Plans are already underway to create a community chest, and an interim candidate fund that will not bear Trump's name has already been created. And Trump signed two grassroots emails in recent days aimed at engaging with his supporters and raising money for the RNC.
Among the names widely discussed as potential leaders to lead the post-McDaniel party is Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party and general counsel to the RNC. But the final selection must be approved by the committee's 168 members, but Trump or his nominees can recommend anyone. Drew McKissic, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, will co-chair the party with McDaniel.
Mr. McDaniel, who won re-election in a landslide in early 2023, remains popular among RNC members, and “there is good reason to believe Mr. Rona will continue to preside until the end of his term,” Richard Porter said. Told. He is a national committee member from Illinois who oversees the party's resolutions committee.
In 2016, Trump's inexperienced team relied heavily on the RNC and did not replace its leadership. During the 2020 election campaign, Trump's team occupied the White House and worked closely with the party from the beginning. If Trump becomes the presumptive nominee in 2024, his team could send one or more executives to effectively take over party operations in addition to or instead of replacing the chairman. .
A spokesman for Mr. Trump declined to comment. An RNC spokesperson also declined to comment.
Just as committee members were meeting at the smoky Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, the party was due to reveal its bleak financial picture in a report to the Federal Election Commission. It shows the Republican National Committee is in its weakest cash position in years, with just $8 million in cash on hand and $1.8 million in debt.
As party leaders draft next year's austerity budget, the party's executive committee was behind closed doors approving potentially available credit lines – a common practice but more urgent given the financial situation. It is considered to be highly sexual. The document projected total revenue of just under $200 million, just a fraction of what it raised in 2020, according to people who have seen the document. However, one party official pointed out that the document contained no predictions about future revenues. Fundraising will be held in line with the final candidates, and a large sum of money is expected.
“It's been very difficult for Republicans to raise money at the national level,” said Rhode Island national committeeman Stephen Frias.
“Some people believe that a lot of problems will be solved if Trump becomes the nominee,” said Frias, who supports Haley. “But I think there's also a counter-argument to this, which is that if Trump becomes the candidate, a lot of people who used to donate to the party will say, 'I'm not going to donate to the party.' about it.”
McDaniel asserts to party members that fiscal challenges are spreading throughout the Republican ecosystem as the party publicly announced that January 2024 was $2 million stronger than any month in 2023. did.
“If you had a successful year for fundraising last year, please raise your hand,” McDaniel asked members at the private breakfast meeting, according to two people who attended. Only one person raised his hand.
Still, the weak cash report gave McDaniel's critics new fodder. Some groups on the right have vocally advocated for McDaniel's ouster, even trying to win seats on committees to sway the direction of the party.
“This is one of the worst years we've ever seen,” said Tyler Bowyer, a Republican committee member from Arizona who has criticized McDaniel. “Given the financial situation that the Republican Party is in from top to bottom, it makes a lot of sense for the Trump campaign to spearhead the merger.”
Mr. Bowyer is also the Chief Operating Officer of Turning Point Action. The group is organizing its own conference in Las Vegas ahead of the RNC's formal meeting, which it calls the Restoring National Trust Summit (RNC) for short.
The countermeasures and the criticism leveled at McDaniel have made some on the committee uncomfortable.
“It concerns me that you wonder why your friends are tearing you apart when they aren't helping you grow,” said Iowa Republican Tamara Scott. Told.
Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk, who has supported McDaniel's removal, said he was looking for an entirely new leader who could “change the deep state of the RNC,” putting him in line with Donald Trump Jr. and others. He also brought up the names of members of the Trump family. Vivek Ramaswamy, the unsuccessful 2024 candidate.
“Grassroots donors are completely depleted and don't want to support the RNC,” Kirk said, arguing that new leadership would galvanize new donors.
Some are calling for the party to be more fully aligned with Mr. Trump while the 2024 Republican primaries are still ongoing.
Last week, Trump ally David Bossie, a Maryland Republican committeeman and Trump's 2016 deputy campaign manager, circulated a resolution declaring Trump a “presumptive nominee.” , which was quickly retracted by Trump himself, who said: It was a social media post he didn't want to see go forward.
“For the sake of party unity, I don't think we should move forward with this plan,” Trump wrote.
Tennessee Republican Committeeman Oscar Bullock, who has been critical of Trump, said he complained to McDaniel about her decision to declare Trump the “definitive” candidate, saying, “She's my I acknowledged that I had a right to be annoyed.” he said–but even he understands the daunting math that lies ahead for Haley.
“The irony is that we as politicians have to listen to our constituents,” Bullock said. “That's the way it should be.”
Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan Contributed to the report.
