Donald Trump Jr. takes on a new role as a top advisor within the Trump family

Behind the scenes, Trump’s eldest son has emerged as one of the former president’s top political advisers, according to multiple sources close to or involved in his political operation. Like his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, who has spent much of the past four years trying to run the Trump show from the West Wing, Trump Jr. worked closely with his father’s team to ensure the next iteration of the 45th President’s. political career is progressing well and that his father endorses reliable conservative candidates.

But its role goes far beyond operational guidance. In the months since Trump left Washington, Trump Jr. – who never worked in the White House and is undeniably the most conservative member of the Trump family – steadily influenced his father’s political instinct. Assistants describe their relationship as remarkably friendlier than Trump’s ever was with Kushner, who has taken a break from politics.

The impact of Trump Jr. was shown in full earlier this month, when Trump caught himself during a televised interview with Governor Asa Hutchinson about the Arkansas Republican stance on transgender issues, a position that would have previously escaped his notice. Unlike the days when Trump camped in an outbuilding next to the Oval Office, complaining to aides about critical cable coverage he’d seen from himself or his administration, this time he was outraged by Hutchinson’s veto over a Republican-backed bill blocking gender. . confirmatory treatments for transgender youth in his state.

It seemed strange to outside observers that Trump, who largely avoided LGBTQ issues during his presidency and went beyond banning transgender Americans from serving in the U.S. military, would issue a statement that one of the country’s most conservative governors on would put a veto on transgender youth. But within the former president’s job, it was abundantly clear who had influenced him.

Trump Jr. had made basic statements for years about various transgender rights extensions to his right-wing followers on Twitter and Instagram. When Cece Telfer, a transgender woman, qualified for the 2019 NCAA Women’s Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Trump Jr. that her success was “a great injustice to so many young women” in a tweet. He once again pawned transgender athletes in a brief appearance at his father’s “Stop the Steal” rally at the White House Ellipse on January 6.

“Don has the pulse of the grassroots and knows where the energy of the party is, so he’s kind of a go-to person for a lot of political stuff now,” said a Trump employee.

A leading role

Trump Jr.’s growing influence was first visible to his father’s aides in February, when Trump gave his first major speech since leaving office at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando. There, the 45th president went on a lengthy riff about transgender athletes vying for interscholastic support – a topic he’d previously ignored because it bubbled up in state legislatures across the country and because his own government threatened to cut federal funding. for schools that implemented trans-inclusive sports policies. Aides later said it was Trump Jr. was who had encouraged his father to get into the matter at CPAC, knowing it would be red meat for the overwhelmingly conservative crowd.

“He always fought for the big cause, but now Don is taking more of a leadership role in shaping the political direction of Trump’s post-presidency,” said a person close to Trump Jr.

When former Ohio Republican Party chairman Jane Timken sought approval for her burgeoning senate campaign in March, Trump Jr. his father to “slow things down” and run the primary game recalled several people familiar with the episode.

He recognizes candidates who are authentically invested in the America First agenda and can recognize those who are faking it. While it is true that all roads lead to Mar-a-Lago, savvy candidates know there is a pit stop with Don taking care of it. a higher degree, success, ”said Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary.

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

The family member Trump ‘talks to most’

That Trump Jr. evolved from a campaign substitute who never worked in the White House to one of his father’s most trusted political strategists is no accident.

Unlike his time in Washington, Trump no longer has a revolving cast of campaign strategists and West Wing advisers surrounding him on a daily basis or the harsh operational demands of the executive office. As a result, he turned increasingly to old friends and his most steadfast political allies – from former top White House employees Mark Meadows and Kellyanne Conway to his eldest son and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan – for advice in building his political life. machine. and maintaining its top position on top of the GOP.

“Much of what you see from Trump’s operation today is from the top,” said a second person close to Trump Jr., who noted that Trump sometimes calls 15 people in one day to ask their opinion about possible approvals. and the growing number of 2024 presidential hopefuls likely to throw their hats in the ring if Trump abandons another run.

“It is common for him to call you to be more of a bowel check than a GPS,” said one person with whom the former president speaks regularly. Trump Jr., this person added, is “definitely the family member [Trump] talk to most “at such times.

Kushner’s conspicuous absence was also a factor behind Trump Jr.’s rise. While Trump’s son has moved closer to the former president since leaving office – including with a recent home purchase in Jupiter, Florida, just 35 minutes away from his father’s luxury oceanfront resort – Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump maintain their distance from his post-presidential apparatus and have shown little interest in rejoining anytime soon. According to reports, Kushner is said to be working on a book about his time in Washington and his efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East.

In addition, three people familiar with Trump’s thinking said he is still brooding about his defeat in the 2020 election, for which he largely blames Kusher, who de facto served as campaign leader during Trump’s quest for reelection.

“I don’t think the president is asking Jared for advice these days,” said a person close to Trump.

Several Trump aides cautioned against the idea that Trump Jr. Kushner in Trump’s orbit, noting that both men have consistently held different positions since Trump took the political scene. Less ideological than his brother-in-law, Kushner primarily provided operational input in his role as a senior White House adviser and campaign strategist. Meanwhile, Trump’s eldest son spent much of 2016 and 2020 criss-crossing the country promoting his father at campaign rallies – often following Trump’s belligerent style and rhetorical tricks – before putting his head into his father’s political operation after the White House. House popped up.

Among some Trump aides, the younger Trump has also been put forward as a potential successor to the throne should his father refuse to run for a non-consecutive second term in 2024.

Despite his deep commitment to Trump’s post-presidential machine, as well as his acute understanding of the GOP base, aides who worked closely with both the former president and Trump Jr. claim that there are notable differences between the father-and-son duo.

First, while Trump has spent most of his post-presidency decompressing on the green with almost daily performances at his eponymous golf club in West Palm Beach, his son recently escaped on a hunting trip in the Alaskan wilderness. A person familiar with Trump Jr.’s whereabouts described the excursion as his own brief reprieve from politics.