- “Finally Florida is the homebase of the Republican Party,” a lobbyist from the Sunshine State, Brian Ballard, told the Wall Street Journal. The publication reported that Trump and his administration made two moves that benefitted Ballard and his clients days after Trump became president.
The Mar-a-Lago to White House pipeline is real, and loyalty matters in Trump 2.0.
Three days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Florida lobbyist Brian Ballard had a party. According to the Wall Street Journal, it was at a Mastro’s Steakhouse, close to the White House, where a plaque for Ballard hangs on the wall. Ballard raised more than $50 million for Trump during the election, per the Journal, and his administration did two things that appeared to benefit Ballard and his clients.
Trump signed an executive order delaying the TikTok ban. TikTok hired Ballard months earlier, and its chief executive Shou Chew attended an inauguration fundraiser dinner Ballard hosted, where Chew spoke to Republican lawmakers, per the Journal.
Then, the Trump administration pulled a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes by its predecessor. Reynolds, an American tobacco company, is a client of Ballard’s, too—and that was the top lobbying priority for the menthol cigarette maker, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
The lead-up to the menthol cigarette decision involved Ballard and his firm’s top lobbyists consistently meeting with Trump for months and donating $10 million, people familiar said. They even presented pollings that showed menthol was popular among Black consumers, a demographic Trump wanted to win over, the people said, according to the Journal.
Carlos Trujillo, another Florida lobbyist and an ambassador in the first Trump administration, also had a party that night where Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles made an appearance. Since Trump’s victory, Trujillo is seeing more clients and had a role in the BlackRock deal to buy Panama Canal ports from CK Hutchison, people familiar with the matter told the outlet. His client list went from 12 to more than 60 since the election, per the Journal. Last month, Politicoreported the firm Trujillo founded signed on at least 16 federal lobbying clients since Trump’s win. At the time, Trujillo said Trump was the “hottest ticket in town.”
White House assistant press secretary Liz Huston in an email statement to Fortune said: “President Trump does what’s right for the American people. That is all.” Ballard Partners (the lobbying firm founded by Ballard), TikTok, Reynolds, and Carlos Trujillo, did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Another Florida lobbyist, Nick Iarossi, extended his reach via a Washington lobbying and public relations firm after reportedly meeting with Trump several times during the campaign and transition. “The decision to also lobby D.C. from Florida was seamless because we have deep relationships with many of the key White House and cabinet officials who are also from Florida,” Iarossi told the Journal. Iarossi previously told Politico that while sitting in the West Wing, he felt like Florida had just been picked up and placed in the White House.
The elevation of Floridian power players in Washington since the president’s return goes beyond lobbyists. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was once a Florida senator. United States Attorney General Pam Bondi was once Florida attorney general. National-security advisor Mike Waltz used to be a congressman from Florida. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff was a prominent real estate developer in Florida. Wiles is a veteran of Florida politics.
Florida was a swing state for many years—it was blue both times Obama ran, in 2008 and 2012—but it’s recently turned red. Trump won Florida each time he ran. “The story of Florida is not just the story of Florida,” Raymond Paultre, executive director of the Alliance, a group of Democratic donors in the state, told the New York Times last year. “It’s the story of a progressive movement that’s struggling to make it in the South, that’s struggling to compete with younger voters of color, that is struggling to win with younger men.”
In Trump’s current administration, he has tapped more Floridians for his inner circle than ever before. “Finally Florida is the homebase of the Republican Party,” Ballard told the Journal. “It’s the place where people used to come to fill up their campaign coffers. Now they come for talent.”
Justin Sayfie, a partner at Ballard’s firm, previously told Politico: “It’s the first time we have had a president elected from the state of Florida… That means that there are a number of Floridians who are serving in the administration, and that means that firms with Florida ties can be helpful in the new environment in Washington.”