Donald Trump Jr. takes on a new role as top adviser in the Trump family

Behind the scenes, Trump’s eldest son has emerged as one of the former president’s former political chief advisers, according to several sources close to Trump or involved in his political operation. Like his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, who has spent much of the past four years trying to steer the Trump show from the West Wing, Trump Jr. works. now with his father’s team to ensure the next iteration of the 45th president. political career went smoothly and that his father endorsed reliable conservative candidates.

But its role extends far beyond operational leadership. In the months since Trump left Washington, Trump Jr. – who never worked in the White House and is arguably the most conservative member of the Trump family – gradually influenced his father’s political instincts. Aides describes their relationship as more pleasant than Trump ever had with Kushner, who took a breather from politics.

The impact of Trump Jr. was fully visible earlier this month, when Trump enchanted him in a television interview with Governor Asa Hutchinson about Republican Arkansas’ stance on transgender issues, which would previously elude his attention. Unlike the days when Trump would camp in an Oval Office annex and provide assistance over the critical cable coverage he saw of himself or his government, this time he was incensed at Hutchinson’s veto over a bill passed by the Republican supported and that gender blocking confirms treatments for transgender youth in his condition.

It seemed strange to foreign observers that Trump, who avoided LGBTQ issues mainly during his presidency, in addition to banning transgender Americans from serving in the U.S. military, would issue a statement that one of the country’s most conservative governors on veto transgender youth. But within the path of the former president, it was very clear who influenced him.

Trump Jr. has for years made basic remarks about various extensions of transgender rights to his right-wing followers on Twitter and Instagram. When Cece Telfer, a transgender woman, qualified for the NCAA Women’s Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2019, Trump Jr. that her success was a “serious injustice to so many young women” in a tweet. On January 6, he again panned transgender athletes during a brief appearance at his father’s “Stop the Steal” march from the White House Ellipse.

“Don has the pulse of the base and knows where the energy of the party is, so he’s kind of the person who does a lot of political stuff right now,” Trump’s assistant said.

A leading role

Trump Jr. his growing influence was first visible to his father’s assistants in February, when Trump delivered his first major speech since leaving the annual Conservative political action conference in Orlando. The 45th president has been the subject of a lengthy debate over transgender athletes competing in interscholastic support – a subject he has previously ignored as it bubbles up in the country’s legislators and because his own government has threatened federal funding for schools that implement it. is, to contribute to trans-inclusive sports policies. Aides later said it was Trump Jr. was what encouraged his father to inform the case at CPAC, knowing it would be red meat for the overwhelmingly conservative crowd.

“He has always fought on a large scale for the cause, but now Don is taking a more leading role in shaping the political direction of Trump’s post-presidency,” someone close to Trump Jr. said.

When Jane Timken, the former Republican Party chairwoman, tried to seek Trump’s approval of her Senate campaign in March, Trump Jr. for example, his father admonished to ‘slow things down’ and let the primary game play out. He recalls several people familiar with the episode.

“He recognizes candidates who are genuinely invested in the America First agenda and can spot those who fall into it. Although all roads lead to Mar-a-Lago, smart candidates know there is a pit stop with Don having a higher grade. assured of success, ”said former White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

The younger Trump also advises his father to send messages, as Trump navigates bitter divisions within the IDP over issues such as voting rights, so-called “cancel culture” and corporate accountability. And while the party is grappling with important philosophical questions about its future, people close to Trump Jr. said he had urged his father to stay in the trenches especially on cultural issues, arguing that they are likely to animate grassroots groups and MAGA voters before and after the 2022 midterm elections.

Family member Trump ‘talks to most’

That Trump Jr. developed from a replacement surrogate who never worked inside the White House to one of his father’s most trusted political strategists is no coincidence.

Unlike his time in Washington, Trump no longer has a revolving group of campaign strategists and West Wing advisers who surround him daily or the heavy operational demands that the executive requires. As a result, he increasingly turned to longtime friends and his most steadfast political allies – from former White House top aides, Mark Meadows and Kellyanne Conway, to his eldest son and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan – for guidance on the expansion. of his political machine. and maintain its seat on top of the GOP.

“A lot of what you see from Trump’s operation these days comes from above,” said a second person near Trump Jr. said, noting that Trump sometimes calls 15 people in one day to ask their thoughts on potential endorsements. and the growing number of 2024 presidents hoping to throw their hat in the ring if Trump forgives another run.

“It’s often that he calls you to be more of a gut test than a GPS,” said one person the former president talks to regularly. Trump Jr., this person added, is “definitely the family member [Trump] talk to most “in such moments.

The conspicuous absence of Kushner was also a factor behind the rise of Trump Jr. While Trump’s son has positioned himself closer to the former president since leaving office – including a recent purchase of a home in Jupiter, Florida, just 35 minutes from his father’s luxury resort by the sea. Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump showed their distance from his post-presidential apparatus and showed little interest in re-enacting it soon. According to reports, Kushner is busy with a book about his time in Washington and his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.

Furthermore, three people familiar with Trump’s thinking said he was still brooding over his defeat in the 2020 election, for which he largely blamed Kusher, who served as campaign chief throughout, during Trump’s quest for re-election.

“I do not think the president is seeking advice from Jared these days,” a person close to Trump said.

Several Trump assistants have warned against the idea that Trump Jr. Kushner replaced Trump in the lane, noting that both men have served different functions since Trump entered the political scene. Kushner, who is less ideological than his brother-in-law, has mostly provided operational input in his role as senior White House adviser and campaign strategist. Meanwhile, Trump’s eldest son spent much of 2016 and 2020 crossing the country to promote his father during campaigns – often mimicking Trump’s bellyous style and rhetorical tricks before diving into his father’s political operation for the first time. has.

Among some Trump aides, the younger Trump is also being driven as a potential successor to the throne should his father be eligible for a non-consecutive second term in 2024.

Despite his deep involvement in Trump’s post-presidential machine, as well as his keen understanding of the IDP base, assistants who worked closely with the former president and Trump Jr. point out that there are significant differences between the father and son -duo is.

For one, while Trump pushed through most of his post-presidency on the green with near-daily appearances at his namesake golf club in West Palm Beach, his son recently escaped on a hunting trip in the Alaska Wilderness. One person familiar with Trump Jr. ‘s place, described the outing as his own brief postponement from politics.