Trump’s RNC takeover triggers strife and staff exits as purge partly backfires
Presumptive Republican nominee installed allies to run party but loyalty tests have led to weakening of certain areas, including data
Donald Trump’s allies installed to run the Republican National Committee have faced a tumultuous first month in charge, buffeted by staffing problems and operational headaches as they attempt to bring the party apparatus under the control of the Trump campaign before the 2024 election.
The internal strife at the RNC has prompted the Trump campaign to privately admonish its new leaders in recent weeks. And the move to orchestrate a purge may have partly backfired with far-reaching consequences for the RNC, multiple sources familiar with the matter said.
The Trump takeover of the RNC arrived with a show of force just days after the new chair, Michael Whatley, and the new co-chair Lara Trump were elected, when emails went out to entire teams at the organization informing them they could resign and reapply for their jobs, or be terminated.
The idea was to ensure there would be no overlap between the RNC and the Trump campaign, which already had robust political and communications teams, and to weed out any staffers who were not fully committed to Trump and the wider Maga movement.
But the threats of termination and the rumored loyalty tests – which turned out to be accurate when staffers were asked in job interviews if they thought the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, though there has been no evidence of election fraud – may have been too aggressive.
In the weeks that followed, although the new RNC leadership quietly extended offers to a majority of former staffers, with the exception of those who worked in the RNC political department, some staffers on crucial teams declined to return, the sources said.
