“Make Trump family great again“, could become his new slogan. After having appointed the Jared Kushner-Ivanka Trump couple as advisors during his first term, the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced that he wanted to reorganize the Republican National Committee team, the party’s governing body, with a trio of loyalists. Starting with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, whom the Republican wants to place as co-chair of the committee.
“Lara is an extremely talented communicator and is dedicated to all things MAGA [Make America Great Again] represents”, Trump justified himself in a press release published on February 12. Eric Trump’s wife has been revealing her political ambitions for years. In the months following the electoral defeat of her father-in-law, in 2020, she considered running for Senate in her home state of North Carolina.
Lara Trump finally gave up on this project, and set out to conquer the small screen in 2021, as a speaker for the Fox News channel. But that collaboration ended the following year, when his father-in-law officially announced his candidacy for the White House, as reported The New York Times.
His son’s wife would thus sit alongside Chris LaCivita, a former marine and current Trump campaign manager, whom the latter chose to become director of operations. The presidency would be held by Michael Whatley, a close friend of the billionaire little known to the general public and current leader of the Republican Party in North Carolina.
Trump’s “puppets”
“The Republican Party must be a good partner for the presidential election and guarantee transparent elections,” adds the former president, currently favorite in the primaries, in his press release. However, these three personalities have precisely the common point of having not only accused Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, of tax fraud, but also of not having recognized the victory of the current tenant of the White House in 2020. Real “puppets”, as they are described The New York Times.
Conversely, the current president of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, niece of the moderate Mitt Romney, although herself a faithful ally of Trump, has sometimes shown herself to disagree with him, according to The New York Times. In particular by refusing to cancel the primaries, as the billionaire would have suggested, according to certain sources. Under pressure, Ronna McDaniel, who was serving her fourth term, is expected to leave office on February 24, after the primary in South Carolina.
“Donald Trump has not yet been invested by the Republican Party and we are already witnessing the resurgence of this assumed nepotism which had earned us […] ‘Javanka’ in the White House”, deplores a columnist from New York Times. Everything suggests that the choice of Lara Trump as number two could “facilitate” – in the words of a member of the committee, questioned by Politico – covering the legal costs of Trump, sentenced on February 16 to $355 million in a trial for financial fraud.
As for Michael Whatley, potential future chairman of the committee, “the chances that he will demonstrate independent judgment in his new role are almost zero”, affirms the columnist of the New York Times. A party meeting to choose new leaders will likely take place in March. And the Politico media point out: “Committee members must approve the positions of president and co-president, but with Trump’s support, this election will undoubtedly seem like a formality.”