Former President Donald Trump announced a slate of endorsements to lead the Republican National Committee Monday night in a move that will shake up current leadership of the GOP.
Trump said he is backing Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, to lead the RNC as its chairman and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to serve as co-chair.
This would be Lara Trump’s first leadership position within the party.
Trump also announced he asked one of his campaign’s senior advisors, Chris LaCivita, to move over to the RNC to assume the role of Chief Operating Officer.
“This group of three is highly talented, battle-tested, and smart,” Trump wrote in a statement Monday night. “They have my complete and total endorsement to lead the Republican National Committee.”
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
The shakeup comes amid low fundraising numbers and party underperformance in recent national elections under the leadership of Ronna McDaniel, the RNC’s current chair. McDaniel has been in charge of the RNC since 2017, and she just won a fourth term as chair in January.
In 2023, the RNC had its worst fundraising year in a decade, and it entered 2024 with just $8 million in its coffers, its lowest cash on hand since 2014, according to FEC reports.
McDaniel met with Trump last week at his home in Mar-a-Lago, where sources told CBS News that McDaniel assured Trump she’s a “team player” and will do what’s in the best interest of the party, including stepping down as chair.
After the meeting, Trump announced he would make a decision about the future of the RNC leadership after the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24.
The New York Times first reported the news that Trump considered tapping Whatley to lead the RNC.
Whatley echoed Trump’s unproven claims of fraud in the wake of the 2020 election, claiming in a North Carolina radio interview that “we do know there was massive fraud that took place.” He currently serves at the RNC as the group’s general counsel, working on “election integrity” efforts.
Lara Trump, who is married to Trump’s second son, Eric, was featured prominently on the campaign trail for Trump before the Iowa caucus and was floated as a North Carolina Senate candidate for the 2022 midterm cycle.
LaCivita is a long-time Republican operative who has worked on a number of state and federal campaigns, including Rand Paul’s 2016 presidential run. He worked as a senior strategist at the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. before moving to Trump’s re-election campaign in 2022.
