The Week: It’s Trump’s RNC Now

• Aaron Rodgers is showing how far people will go to avoid playing for the Jets.

• To the victor go the spoils. With his renomination, Donald Trump is replacing the merely Trump-backed leadership of the Republican National Committee with members of his family and campaign. North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump were voted in as RNC co-chairs at a March 8 meeting. Chris LaCivita, senior adviser to the Trump campaign, will serve as the RNC’s chief operating officer. On their first business day in charge, the new team sacked more than 60 RNC staffers, telling our Audrey Fahlberg, “This is one team. There will not be redundancies.” Meanwhile, there was insufficient support for the RNC to vote on a proposal to bar its funds from being redirected to pay Trump’s legal bills, a topic about which the Trump camp and the RNC have sent mixed messages. Accountability is a good thing: Trump had long played a double game of backing Ronna McDaniel while his allies blamed her for the party’s financial woes and election setbacks, but there will be no question now where the buck stops. The party is, however, supposed to serve more than the interests of one man. Especially in an election year when Democrats are likely to outspend Republicans by a wide margin, the RNC should not be a slush fund for Trump’s legal defense.

About the Author

NR Editors

NR Editors includes members of the editorial staff of our magazine and website.

• Aaron Rodgers is showing how far people will go to avoid playing for the Jets.

• To the victor go the spoils. With his renomination, Donald Trump is replacing the merely Trump-backed leadership of the Republican National Committee with members of his family and campaign. North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump were voted in as RNC co-chairs at a March 8 meeting. Chris LaCivita, senior adviser to the Trump campaign, will serve as the RNC’s chief operating officer. On their first business day in charge, the new team sacked more than 60 RNC staffers, telling our Audrey Fahlberg, “This is one team. There will not be redundancies.” Meanwhile, there was insufficient support for the RNC to vote on a proposal to bar its funds from being redirected to pay Trump’s legal bills, a topic about which the Trump camp and the RNC have sent mixed messages. Accountability is a good thing: Trump had long played a double game of backing Ronna McDaniel while his allies blamed her for the party’s financial woes and election setbacks, but there will be no question now where the buck stops. The party is, however, supposed to serve more than the interests of one man. Especially in an election year when Democrats are likely to outspend Republicans by a wide margin, the RNC should not be a slush fund for Trump’s legal defense.