Former President Donald J. Trump announced Monday night that they had been talking privately for several days. He is reportedly hoping to replace Ronna McDaniel as Republican National Committee chair with her daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. Appointed as co-chair.
“The RNC must be a good partner in the presidential campaign,” Trump said in a statement. “We must do the job we expect from the National Party to perfection. That means helping to ensure fair and transparent elections across the country and voting,” he said.
He asked his “friend” Michael Whatley, currently the North Carolina Republican Party chairman and national committee general counsel, and “my very talented daughter-in-law, Lara Trump,” to serve as party leaders. He said he would like to have it.
Trump said of his daughter-in-law, who is married to his second son Eric, “Lara is an extremely gifted communicator and is dedicated to everything MAGA stands for.” “She told me she wanted to accept this challenge and she would be great!”
The statement came hours after the New York Times reported that Trump told people he was considering supporting him. The newspaper previously reported that Trump wanted Whatley, a supporter of false claims of widespread voter fraud, to be the next RNC chairman.
Both the Chair and Vice Chair are paid positions.
Trump cannot easily appoint them. If McDaniel ultimately decides to resign, he will need to conduct an election for his replacement. And despite Trump's significant influence in the party, his endorsement of Whatley as co-chairman in 2023 was not enough to get him over the finish line to victory.
Trump had been considering running for Senate in North Carolina, his and Whatley's home state, in 2021 ahead of next year's primary election. However, she ultimately chose not to run.
Trump added in a statement that one of his current top campaign advisers, Chris Lacivita, will be moved to become the RNC's “de facto” chief operating officer, strengthening Trump's complete control over the party machine. .
Trump ended his statement by noting widespread concerns among Republicans about the RNC's strained finances, saying “every penny will be spent well.” “A new day.”
Trump said McDaniel, who has headed the party's official organization for several years, plans to resign immediately after the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary, two people briefed on the matter said. He reportedly told Mr. Although Trump has publicly described McDaniel as her “friend,” she has been the focus of intense pressure from within and outside the Trump campaign.
Mr. Trump's team plans to integrate the RNC and his campaign as much as possible. This is the case in 2016, when he was an opposition candidate whose team was often at odds with party heavyweights, and in 2016, when he led a team that assigned core functions to party committees, and when he was an incumbent This is a change from 2020 when he was president. Mr. Trump's team is aiming for as little interaction between the two organizations as possible this time around, according to people briefed on the matter.
And they hope to begin partnering with the RNC well before the Republican National Convention in mid-July, with at least one potential criminal trial and four overall pending by then. This will solidify Mr. Trump's position.
Mr. Trump and his advisers are focused on what resources are available to him as a candidate as he faces huge legal costs. These bills have so far been paid for by Save America, a political action committee he controls.
Mr. Trump is battling the remnants of the main opposition party in the Republican Party and Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations. But Haley continues to follow Trump in her home state of South Carolina and other Super Tuesday states.
After Trump defeated Haley in the New Hampshire primary, McDaniel, who had remained publicly neutral, said it was time for the party to unite around Trump. Mr. Trump.
