Veterans of former President Donald Trump’s White House and previous campaigns aren’t exactly jumping to join his 2024 effort, more than a dozen Trumpworld figures suggested to the Washington Examiner.
Trump became the first top-tier Republican to enter the 2024 field on Tuesday, and early indications suggest the campaign itself will be significantly more streamlined than his 2020 reelection bid.
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Susie Wiles, who worked on both of Trump’s past election efforts, former Trump White House political director Brian Jack, and longtime Republican operative Chris LaCivita are expected to run the campaign, which will be headquartered out of South Florida. Gary Coby, who oversaw Trump’s 2016 and 2020 digital fundraising apparatus, former Trump White House adviser Steven Cheung, former Trump White House press aide Margo Martin, and Liz Harrington, Trump’s current spokeswoman, will also have roles.
Still, five senior Trump administration and campaign alumni explicitly tell the Washington Examiner they will not join the 2024 campaign. Their reasons ranged from finding new careers to full disavowals of Trump following the events of Jan. 6.
Furthermore, more than 10 Trumpworld figures suggested to the Washington Examiner they are “on the fence” about the Donald’s comeback, while many others declined to comment on the subject.
“I think a lot of people are trying to wait things out a bit,” a person close to Trump said, referencing an expected primary showdown with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). “2024 is a long time from now, and nobody wants to be left on the outside.”
A senior Republican official also told the Washington Examiner that, so far, there hasn’t been any indication that campaign officials might leave official party organizations to join Trump’s campaign.
“A campaign based in Palm Beach sounds nice,” the official said. “Idk if there are direct flights from Palm Beach to Des Moines though.”
Ivanka Trump, the former president’s daughter and one of his top advisers in the White House and on his past campaigns, announced just minutes after her father’s reelection announcement wrapped that she would no longer work for his political outfit.
“I love my father very much. This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family,” she explained in a statement. “I do not plan to be involved in politics. While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside the political arena.”
The Trump campaign did not return the Washington Examiner’s request for comments.
The former president also won’t benefit from the same financial backing in 2024 he received in past elections.
Three former Trump donors, worth a combined $85 billion, have all announced that they won’t back Donald Trump this cycle.
“America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who contributed $200,000 to Donald Trump in 2020, said in a statement. “It is time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries.”
Interactive Brokers Group Inc. founder Thomas Peterffy backed Donald Trump with $250,000 last election but said this week that the onetime president “can’t get elected. Period” and vowed to “do whatever I can to make sure he is not.”
“We need a fresh face,” he added. “The problem with Trump is he has so many negatives.”
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, who also donated $200,000 to Donald Trump’s 2020 effort, announced that he will not be donating to the former president this cycle.
Lauder also doesn’t plan to support Donald Trump in the next presidential election, a spokesperson for the cosmetics heir said Wednesday.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin took matters one step further and announced his intention to support DeSantis, who is yet to announce his own White House bid despite being clearly marked by Donald Trump as his top competition.
DeSantis has largely avoided commenting on the former president’s attacks, including his new nickname, “DeSanctimonious,” and told reporters Tuesday that being governor has taught him to constantly expect “incoming fire.”
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“I think what you learn is all of that is just noise, and really what matters is are you leading, are you getting in front of issues, are you delivering results for people, and are you standing up for folks?” he continued. “At the end of the day, I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night.”
