Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his doomed presidential campaign in May 2023, but in the months leading up to the official announcement, the Florida Republican did what all White House hopefuls do: He assembled a team of political professionals. Donald Trump’s operation, naturally, took note — and issued a warning.
Two months before DeSantis’ campaign began, NBC News reported that Team Trump wanted GOP political operatives to know one thing: Those who agreed to work for DeSantis would be deemed “ineligible to join the Trump campaign or another Trump White House.”
In other words, the former president and his aides were taking names. Those who dared to work for the candidate seen as Trump’s principal rival would find closed doors if/when DeSantis’ candidacy failed.
It was not an empty threat. Indeed, Politico reported just last week that the former president and members of his inner circle “have told down-ballot Republican candidates not to hire Republican strategist Jeff Roe or his political consulting firm.” Roe was a leading member of DeSantis’ team, and as the report added, Trump wanted to punish the consultant and “choke off revenue for his consulting firm … in an act of political retribution.”
The move made clear that Team Trump had entered its blacklisting phase, which as NBC News reported overnight, continues apace.
Former President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to blacklist anyone who donates to Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign. Trump wrote on Truth Social that anyone who makes a contribution to the Haley campaign “from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.”
The likely Republican nominee added, in reference to support from Haley donors, “We don’t want them, and will not accept them.”
To be sure, the declaration lacked details. If someone who contributed to Haley sent Trump’s campaign a check, would the former president’s operation tear it up? Would Team Trump seriously go to the trouble of…
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