'Wild' Trump effort to deny links to MAGA 'inner circle' quickly unravels

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump sits with Susie Wiles as he attends the New York Jets football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Pittsburgh. Evan Vucci/Pool via REUTERS

President Donald Trump attempted to distance himself from two of his long-time political advisers, who cashed in by working for a Russia-aligned government got instant pushback.

After The New York Times reported that James Blair and Chris LaCivita had gone to Republika Srpska, a Serb-majority area in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to advise its government before the elections there, Trump reacted on Truth Social. The report states that the two men were each paid hundreds of thousands of dollars through a Washington-based law firm that had been hired by the government.

“Chris LaCivita and James Blair are outside consultants,” Trump wrote. “They do not work for me, other than as outside consultants.”

CNN anchor Dana Bash mentioned the post a minute later, calling it "pretty wild" and mentioning that Blair and LaCivita are two of Trump's "closest political advisers" and that the former "is literally running MAGA Inc"

While discussing Trump's effort to describe them as outside consultants, CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene gave a more detailed account of the president’s relationship with them, calling the president's denial "astonishing" due to their high profile within his close circle.

“They do work for the president, and they are very close,” Treene said. “They are very much considered part of his inner circle, very close with Susie Wiles.”

Treene said LaCivita and Wiles, the chief of staff to the White House, ran Trump's 2024 campaign together and that Blair was closely connected to both of them.

“And James Blair really is in charge of the president’s entire political operation, even though it’s being run on the outside of the White House,” she said.

Blair was political director of Trump's 2024 campaign and later became a deputy chief of staff in the White House. LaCivita was also one of the campaign managers for Trump in 2024, and both of them are still taking part in the Trump-associated political operation as the November midterms approach.

Treene described Trump’s threat as significant due to his close ties to both advisors, and she linked the president’s move to midterm anxiety.

“That is a huge deal for people who have been loyal to him from the beginning and comes. Of course, this comes less than 30 days away from the midterm elections. A lot of alarm bells, of course, going off across the country for republicans in some of these very vulnerable districts and these tight races.”

She also gave one possible reason why the president took public steps about the report, namely that Trump has in the past disliked his aides earning money in ways that could involve his name; she also pointed out the huge conflict of interest.

His current denial is now drawing focus to the relationship which he had aimed to limit, but CNN reports the pair are still firmly within his political circle, which could lead to some political blowback.

From Your Site Articles