HOUSTON — It’s official: Donald Trump is in charge of the GOP.
Two days after Nikki Haley dropped her presidential bid, the Republican National Committee used its spring meeting here to install a new leadership team hand-picked by the former president, a formal signal of his takeover of the national Republican Party.
The RNC’s membership selected North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley to serve as the party’s new chairman, and Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to serve as the co-chair in unanimous votes.
“He will work relentlessly to elect Donald J. Trump as our 47th president of the United States, flip the Senate, expand our majority in the House of Representatives and help us in our individual states,” said Ohio RNC member Jim Dickey, who nominated Whatley for chair.
The election came after a brief bit of private leadership jockeying between Whatley and South Carolina GOP Chairman Drew McKissick, who ultimately did not run for the RNC’s top job after Trump publicly endorsed Whatley.
“Our country and indeed the entire world can’t take four more years of Joe Biden and Democratic control,” Whatley said during his acceptance speech. “In less than eight months we will determine not only the fate of the US but the rest of the word.”
Whatley, who has served as the RNC’s general counsel, replaces Ronna McDaniel. She was Trump’s hand-picked party chair after he won the presidency in 2016, but she has come under fire from the party’s grassroots after the GOP had other disappointing elections in the Trump era, in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
McDaniel gave lengthy farewell remarks, at times fighting off tears as she thanked her family. She listed a series of accomplishments during her seven years as party chair.
“We grew our email list from 3 million to 50 million subscribers,” McDaniel said. “We finally launched a small dollar fundraising platform … we were getting trounced by Democrats over and over again.”
She also made clear that the overturning of Roe v. Wade cost Republicans in the 2022 midterms, and she said she urged more candidates to address abortion, but most did not.
“Not every candidate made it to their destination,” she said. “We can’t put our head in the sand and ignore abortion and the Dobbs decision … The RNC was leading, asking candidates to talk about this issue.”
McDaniel, who got a standing ovation after her remarks, agreed to resign after Trump formally endorsed Whatley. But she continues to have supporters within the RNC, including Kansas RNC Committeewoman Kim Bochers, who praised McDaniel during the meeting’s invocation, saying she had “been through the fire.”
With the party’s new leadership in place and Trump allies firmly in control, the RNC’s next biggest need is clear: raise money.
President Joe Biden and a collection of affiliated Democratic committees have $130 million cash on hand, a number that was just $65 million for Trump and his affiliated committees.
“We have to raise a lot of money,” Lara Trump said during her acceptance speech, holding up a check she said was a $100,000 donation that she had secured at the spring meetings.
A fight over what to do with RNC cash has also created a rift among some members of the party, with an increasing number of Trump supporters urging the RNC to spend its resources on legal bills associated with Trump’s criminal and civil indictments.
Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign adviser who will have significant sway over the new RNC structure, has said he does not think party money should be used for Trump resources. But CNBC reported Thursday that there is increasing pressure from RNC members to help pay Trump’s legal bills.
Two resolutions filed by Mississippi RNC Committeeman Henry Barbour that would have functionally barred the RNC from paying Trump’s legal bills. The resolutions did not get near enough support to even be considered at the party’s spring meetings.
“It was a publicity stunt. Never had a chance,” said an RNC member who opposed the measures. “President Trump is the leader of the party, and those never had a chance.”
Whatley, who did not meet with reporters, did not specifically say if he supports using RNC funds for Trump legal bills in his acceptance speech
He told members that “every dollar” raised will be put toward winning elections.
“If a proposal or request comes to us that is not focused on winning in November, it will not be considered,” he said.
