Former President Donald Trump‘s takeover of the Republican National Committee was finalized Thursday when Michael Whatley, the former chairman of the North Carolina GOP, replaced former Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Whatley is joined by Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as co-chair. She replaces former RNC co-chairman Drew McKissick as committee members are holding their spring meeting in Houston, Texas.
The new leadership of the RNC comes after Trump vanquished his final 2024 Republican primary challenger, Nikki Haley, his onetime ambassador to the United Nations, to become the presumptive nominee. The RNC officially recognized this marker during their spring meeting.
Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita is also expected to become the RNC’s chief operating officer. Another senior adviser James Blair is expected to help the RNC’s political strategy as Trump seeks to meld the committee with his reelection campaign against President Joe Biden.
“I’m stepping aside today because I have long promised to put the nominee and their plans for the RNC first. Winning the White House back is just too important for me to do otherwise,” McDaniel said. “President Trump deserves to have the team he wants in place at the RNC.”
McDaniel grew emotional as she thanked members, Trump, and her family for her record tenure chairing the RNC over the last seven years. The former chairwoman touted her record including establishing an election integrity unit, launching the “Bank Your Vote” initiative, increasing minority voter outreach, and electing the most Republican women to Congress in history.
Whatley also grew emotional in his first speech as chairman when he thanked his family for supporting him. He then went on to make the case for his vision over the RNC.
“In less than eight months, we are going to determine the fate of not only the United States but of the entire world,” Whatley said. “And this body, the RNC is going to be the vanguard of a movement that will work tirelessly every single day to elect our nominee, Donald J. Trump as the 47th president of the United States, flip the Senate, expand our majority in the House of Representatives.”
McDaniel announced she would step down as chairwoman just two days after South Carolina’s Feb. 24 GOP primary clearing the way for Whatley’s election. “It has been the honor and privilege of my life to serve the Republican National Committee for seven years as Chairwoman to elect Republicans and grow our Party,” McDaniel said at the time.
That same day, McKissick also announced his intention to step down. “I look forward to working with the RNC and President Trump’s team to make sure that we WIN this November by taking back the White House, the Senate and maintaining our majority in the House of Representatives,” he said.
In the lead-up to the RNC leadership shake-up some committee members fretted over covering Trump’s legal fees as he faces 91 criminal charges across four cases. Lara Trump raised eyebrows when she said the committee would spend “every single penny” to get her father-in-law reelected.
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Under McDaniel’s charge, the RNC faced its worst fundraising haul since 2013, with only $8 million in cash on hand after raising $87.2 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings from 2023.
But a resolution from Henry Barbour, a national committeeman from Mississippi, to block the RNC from covering Trump’s fees gained little traction and will not come up for a vote. The former president’s donors helped his two political action committees pay out over $50 million on legal fees in 2023.
Although Trump’s pressure for McDaniel to step down and install his allies into RNC leadership came before he defeated his GOP primary rivals, it’s not unusual for the presidential nominee to merge with the RNC.