WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump confirmed the presence of Michael Whatley on Monday The next head of the Republican National Committee and endorsed his daughter-in-law Lara Trump for co-chair.
There was Trump Shown RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said it’s time to step aside, but she will also make recommendations for changes to the RNC after the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary.
“I think my friend Michael Whatley should be the next leader of the RNC,” Trump said, adding that “he’s been with me from the beginning, he’s done a great job in his home state of North Carolina.”
Whatley is the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party.
Trump also said that his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, “has agreed to run as co-chair of the RNC.” Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump, was a senior adviser to the Trump campaign in 2020. He often appears as an on-air surrogate for the 2024 campaign.
“Lara is an extremely gifted communicator and is committed to everything MAGA stands for,” Trump said. “He told me he wanted to take the challenge and it would be GREAT!”
Neither Lara Trump nor Whatley immediately responded to requests for comment.
“This is not Game of Thrones, this is about winning,” a Trump adviser told NBC News in a text message. “The president wants the RNC to win, and given he’s effectively secured the nomination in record time, it’s prudent to ensure the party can deliver in November.”
In a statement Monday night, an RNC spokesman said McDaniel is “on track to help get Republicans out the vote and will work hard to defeat Biden this fall.”
“Nothing has changed and no decisions or announcements will be made about future plans after South Carolina,” spokesman Keith Schipper said.
A former RNC official said: “Anyone out there who doesn’t think this is going to happen, there are some, is not grounded in reality. But when there are people who have been working there for eight years or more, they are not in the real world.”
Trump also said in a statement Monday that he had asked Chris LaCivita to become the RNC’s chief operating officer. LaCivita, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, said he would maintain his position in the campaign.
RNC Rep. Steve Scheffler of Iowa told NBC News Monday night that he thinks Trump’s proposed changes will be a “smooth transition.”
“I know he trusts Ronna, but you know, he just wants to put a new spin on it,” Scheffler said. “I don’t have a problem with that, and I don’t think anyone else does either.”
RNC member Richard Porter, who supported McDaniel’s re-election bid, told NBC News that “none of this” was disrespectful to her, adding that she “did a lot to move the party forward and keep it together.”
Porter said in a text message that Whatley is “widely respected within the party for the strong organizational skills he has demonstrated as chairman of the North Carolina caucus.”
He also said Lara Trump is “a strong fundraiser and has a naturally elegant style,” noting that President Ronald Reagan’s daughter, Maureen Reagan, served as RNC co-chair when her father was in office.
Trump’s GOP primary challenger Nikki Haley’s campaign manager, however, compared the former president’s RNC plans to “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”
“Nikki Haley’s plan for the RNC? Blow it all up. Everyone at the RNC will be fired, there will be a full and complete audit of the gross misappropriation of funds, and there will be a formal application process to become RNC Chair. DESERVED, not backstabbing,” Haley campaigned. manager Betsy Ankney said in a statement.