The grip of Donald Trump on the Republican Party appears to be tightening as he presses toward the presidential nomination. His path seems uninterrupted after a comfortable victory in the South Carolina primaries, his fourth consecutive win in a race where only Nikki Haley remains as a visible challenger. His influence on party politics has grown in recent weeks, notably when his clout helped block a bipartisan immigration reform deal in Congress and slowed the approval of additional Ukraine aid. This Monday, his dominance over the party’s structure was reaffirmed as well.
The current chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, confirmed an early report and announced that she will step down next week, just three days after the 16 Super Tuesday votes are tallied. The party’s flagship leadership is poised to be reshaped to suit the preferences of the former president, who has long advocated this kind of change.
Observers such as Peter Wehner, who served in three conservative administrations and no longer identifies as a Republican, describe a party that is Trump-centered from top to bottom. Wehner told the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s imprint may be rivaled only by Ronald Reagan’s, a comparison that underscores the lasting impact the former president has stamped on the political landscape for generations.
Un equipo de leales
Trump has backed Michael Whatley, a loyal ally who currently leads the state party in North Carolina, for a higher post and has suggested that his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, married to his son Eric, join the leadership as a co-chair. He also wants Chris LaCivita, his campaign strategist, to become the chief financial officer. The intended changes would place trusted confidants at the core of the party’s decision making and campaign operations.
Although McDaniel has escaped public insults from Trump, who has often attacked perceived disloyalty, she has faced displeasure over the handling of the Michigan campaign in 2016, a candidate who is Mitt Romney’s niece and who became head of the committee in 2017. Trump pressed unsuccessfully to suspend debates in which he did not participate, and he raised concerns about caucus and primary integrity. His allies have also questioned fundraising, though the committee has remained comparatively strong in that area.
Trump was not fond of the committee’s stance on arguing fraud in the 2020 election, a position that at the time kept the party away from entanglement with legal issues surrounding the president and other allies. Several party members blamed McDaniel for poor results in the 2022 midterms, though many of those outcomes were driven by voters’ rejection of candidates seen as too extreme even within the party’s base.
Un control clave
Changes to the party’s structure are now central to both Trump’s campaign and the party’s future prospects. With LaCivita leading Trump’s operation and the party, the leadership profile has been described by a consultant as a distinction that makes no difference to the public. The plan is to treat the committee not merely as a campaign bank, as they did in 2020, but as a strategic hub that will influence decisions across state parties as well.
The new leadership could also curb two resolutions that the outgoing setup had circulated, a move LaCivita criticized on the eve of South Carolina’s primaries. One resolution urged the committee to stay neutral until a candidate reaches a majority of delegates necessary for nomination, and another urged the party not to assume responsibility for Trump’s legal bills. Two pro-Trump super PACs have already spent tens of millions on covering those costs.
Haley pierde un aliado
Haley has fiercely opposed the rapid changes being prepared by a leadership slate chosen by Trump. She challenged the idea that he should simply be allowed to seize control of the party that runs the convention. Her criticisms have persisted as she positions herself as a possible alternative for Republicans who do not want to return to voting for Trump. Nonetheless, her political journey has become increasingly precarious.
Following Saturday’s defeat in South Carolina, where she finished about twenty points behind the winner, her fundraising became a critical vulnerability. Americans for Prosperity Action, the conservative network founded by the influential Koch brothers, paused its funding for her campaign. The network’s leadership later explained that external groups cannot materially alter Haley’s path to victory given the hurdles in upcoming states. Since November, the group had been financing ads and on-the-ground operations to support Haley; it will instead redirect funds toward campaigns in the two congressional chambers where control is at stake.