Donald Trump doesn’t want his snowballing legal troubles to just be his problem—he’s trying to make it an issue for the entire Republican Party.
During a monumental election year for the GOP, Trump has effectively taken over the Republican National Committee, a bid to ensure that the national fundraising juggernaut will chiefly serve him, and not other Republican efforts.
His personal pick to co-chair the RNC—daughter-in-law Lara Trump—teased the new vision on Tuesday during an interview on Newsmax.
“Every single penny will go to the No. 1 and the only job of the RNC—that is electing Donald J. Trump as President of the United States,” she said.
Lara Trump: If I am elected to this position , I can assure you.. every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC… that is electing Donald J Trump pic.twitter.com/CAbbv2TMNN
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 14, 2024
That arrangement would certainly sound good to Trump, who has shown no compunction about taking tens of millions of dollars from his donors and spending it on his personal legal battles.
Of course, Trump’s team tried to mollify those concerns on Wednesday, with a senior Trump campaign official telling Axios that the RNC won’t be paying Trump’s legal bills. But that arrangement is far from set in stone, and Trump can still direct any money that he raises with the RNC straight to his legal defense.
That’s precisely why it’s so notable that Trump picked Lara Trump as co-chair—in addition to senior Trump adviser Chris LaCivita likely becoming the RNC’s new chief operating officer and Trump-friendly Michael Watley earning the former president’s endorsement to lead the RNC. Trump will have more than enough say to turn on the money spigot, and can demand large personal cuts from party funds.
Certainly, the new additions to the RNC are conspicuous. The previous RNC co-chairs each brought institutional experience to the table—Drew McKissick was a grassroots specialist and the co-chair before him, Tommy Hicks, had deep ties to deep pockets.
But if the RNC is only going to operate with Trump in mind, it’ll be a massive blow to down-ballot Republicans and state parties desperate for the cash infusion they usually get in presidential election years. And even if Trump doesn’t seize RNC cash for his own purposes, the prospect of him doing so could very well have a chilling effect on donors turning over their cash.
Despite Lara Trump’s priorities, simply electing Trump isn’t the RNC’s only job. National parties also serve as the strategic and financial hubs of a campaign support system, providing critical backing…
