Donald Trump presidential campaign key staff and advisors, 2016

Donald Trump

See also: Donald Trump White House staff

There were three distinct phases to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign that could be seen through his top-level staffing decisions: the Lewandowski campaign, the Manafort campaign, and the Bannon campaign. The initial staffing involved only a handful of key advisors, including longtime Trump advisor Roger Stone. Trump hired Corey Lewandowski, whose motto was "Let Trump be Trump," as campaign manager in February 2015.^[1] Lewandowski came from Americans for Prosperity, a 501(c)(4) organization associated with David and Charles Koch, as did a number of early staffers. These early hires—combined with his choices for communications—suggested that Trump intended to build a smaller staff that did not come from the traditional consultant class in the Republican Party. Trump added his foreign policy team in March 2016, continuing the trend of hiring staffers with little traditional experience in political consulting. The New York Times reported that many policy experts were "scratching their heads as they tried to identify his choices."^[2]

The second phase of the campaign began when Trump's hiring and promotion shifted from the non-traditional to more established consultants. In March 2016, as the potential for a contested convention increased, Trump hired Paul Manafort—who has worked in presidential politics since the 1976 Republican convention—as his convention manager.^[3] Trump also promoted Michael Glassner, a longtime aide to former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), to deputy campaign manager.^[4] By the New York primary elections on April 19, Manafort had taken on an expanded role in the campaign. He helped to hire former Scott Walker campaign manager Rick Wiley as well as former Chris Christie campaign manager Ken McKay. Manafort and Wiley were then authorized "to take the reins in upcoming states" with a significantly expanded budget.^[5] Manafort's role expansion came as campaign manager Corey Lewandowski's role was diminished "to a role that amounts to body man and scheduler," according to CBS News.^[6] The campaign itself began to shift in its approach to the nomination and an anticipated general election, with Manafort instituting more policy speeches and the use of teleprompters and speechwriters.^[7] On June 20, 2016, Lewandowski was fired as campaign manager, solidifying Manafort's role as the top staff member.

Manafort's position in the campaign changed in August 2016 when Trump hired Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon as his chief executive and promoted pollster Kellyanne Conway to the role of campaign manager. Manafort resigned on August 19, two days after Bannon joined the campaign.^[8] Bannon's approach to political reporting, which CBS News described as "happy to embrace fringe beliefs," contrasted with Manafort's previous efforts to work with established consultants.^[9] Conway, a longtime pollster and analyst of young and female voters, was the closest Trump's campaign came to a traditional pollster and data analyst.

Key campaign staff and advisors[edit]

For a timeline of Trump's staff moves, see: Donald Trump presidential campaign staff hiring timeline, 2016

The following tables detail the key staff and advisors Ballotpedia has identified for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. These staff tables are divided based on campaign roles. The leftmost column indicates the individual staff member or advisor. The middle column details that individual's relationship to Trump's 2016 campaign. The final column indicates the individual's experience prior to working with Trump. More detailed profiles of individuals can be found by clicking the links in the leftmost column.

Management and strategy[edit]

Convention and delegate strategy[edit]

Communications[edit]

Advisors[edit]

Note: Roger Stone is listed here because of his ongoing relationship to Trump throughout the campaign, which he described in November 2015: "We talk on a semi-regular basis and it’s cordial. But I have no formal — I resigned any formal role. We just talk politics."^[10]

Foreign policy[edit]

Battleground state directors[edit]

Legal counsel[edit]

Ballotpedia has identified the following individuals as legal counsel for the Trump campaign:

• Donald McGahn
• Jesse Binnall
• David Warrington

Other staff[edit]

• Thomas Midanek: Midanek was announced as Trump's Virginia state director in July 2016 but was transferred out of the state in early September 2016. He was replaced as state director by Mark Kevin Lloyd and Trump operations in Virginia were handled by Mike Rubino, who ran Trump's Virginia primary campaign.^[11]
• Boris Epshteyn: Epshteyn is a Trump surrogate who made frequent television appearances to expand on and defend Trump's positions. He previously worked as a communications aide for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign and has experience in the private business sector.^[12]

Departures[edit]

See also: Presidential campaign staff transfers, resignations and terminations

The following staff members departed Trump's campaign prior to Election Day.

Carter Page[edit]

See also: Carter Page

On September 26, 2016, Page stepped down from Trump's campaign. Page's resignation came amid speculation that he had engaged in discussions with top officials in the Russian government while in Moscow for a July speech. According to Yahoo News, U.S. intelligence officials were investigating allegations that Page had "talks about the possible lifting of economic sanctions if the Republican nominee becomes president."^[13] Shortly after the accusations were made, Page left the campaign. He denied the allegations to The Washington Post, saying, "All the ones that are mentioned in the various articles, I didn’t meet with any of those guys. It’s completely false and inconceivable that someone would even accuse me of that." Page then said he would leave the campaign to avoid further distractions: "This is another distraction that’s been created here. There’s so little time between now and the election, this is in the best interests of the candidate."^[14]

Paul Manafort[edit]

See also: Paul Manafort

Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chair and chief strategist, resigned his position on August 19, 2016, two days after Trump hired Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon as the campaign chief executive and promoted pollster Kellyanne Conway to the position of campaign manager.^[8] Manafort originally joined the campaign in March 2016 as convention manager.^[15]

Ed Brookover[edit]

See also: Ed Brookover

Ed Brookover, Trump's senior advisor who helped organize the Republican National Convention, was fired from the campaign on August 1, 2016. According to Politico, Brookover's firing was part of a "campaign shakeup," and two other Trump aides, William McGinley and Mike McSherry, were set to take on expanded roles in the campaign.^[16]

Corey Lewandowski[edit]

See also: Corey Lewandowski

On June 20, 2016, it was reported that Corey Lewandowski would no longer be Donald Trump's presidential campaign manager.^[17]

Ken McKay[edit]

See also: Ken McKay

After being hired in April as an advisor to the campaign, McKay left in early June to advise the pro-Trump super PAC Rebuilding America Now. The super PAC told NBC News that McKay was a volunteer for Trump's campaign and that his decision to join the super PAC did not violate federal laws on coordination.^[18]

Sam Nunberg[edit]

See also: Sam Nunberg

Sam Nunberg, an advisor to Donald Trump since early 2014, arranged in February 2014 for Buzzfeed writer McCay Coppins to write a profile on Trump for the website. When it was published, the profile cast Trump in a negative light, calling him "a man startled by his suddenly fading relevance — and consumed by a desperate need to get it back."^[19] When the article appeared, Nunberg was fired.^[20] In April 2014, however, Nunberg was rehired to his same position.^[21]

On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his bid for the presidency at Trump Tower in New York City.^[22] Nunberg remained on the campaign team as an advisor.^[23]

Nunberg was again fired from the campaign in August 2015. Business Insider reported on Nunberg's history of racially charged and provocative social media activities dating back to 2007. The report noted that Nunberg had a history of attacking African American leaders, like Al Sharpton, and President Barack Obama: "Among other things, Nunberg called Obama a 'Socialist Marxist Islamo Fascist Nazi Appeaser' and 'Farrakahn's Messiah.'"^[24] According to NBC News, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski called Nunberg a "short-time consultant with the campaign." Nunberg was terminated on August 2, 2015.^[25]

Roger Stone[edit]

See also: Roger Stone

Roger Stone left Trump's campaign during the first week of August 2015. Trump said that he fired Stone, while Stone told the press that he resigned.^[26][27] In an interview on April 5, 2016, Stone commented on what he would do if the presidential nominating convention is contested:

^[29]

Chuck Laudner and Ryan Keller[edit]

See also: Chuck Laudner and Ryan Keller

On March 28, 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's two highest ranking aides in Iowa—State Director Chuck Laudner and Deputy State Director Ryan Keller—were no longer employed by the Trump campaign. Both aides said their contracts had expired, and Keller indicated that "he hadn’t 'put that much thought' into whether he would rejoin for the general election."^[30]

Stuart Jolly[edit]

See also: Stuart Jolly

National Field Director Stuart Jolly resigned his position on April 18, 2016, after the campaign hired Rick Wiley to be the national political director. According to CNN, "Jolly was a longtime loyalist to Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, and Jolly's departure shrinks the circle of loyal aides Lewandowski has around him as Paul Manafort, Trump's recent hire to manage the convention strategy, gains more clout in the Trump campaign." Jolly also stated, "I left. I wasn't pushed, I wasn't shoved, I wasn't asked to leave."^[31]

Rick Wiley[edit]

See also: Rick Wiley

On May 25, 2016, National Political Director Rick Wiley and the Trump campaign parted ways. According to Politico, Wiley had previously been in an altercation with Karen Giorno, a Trump advisor who ran the primary campaign in Florida. The article noted, "For weeks, Wiley made appointments and had discussions with Florida Republicans and appeared to be building a new campaign from scratch, sources say. They say he refused, at times, to return Giorno’s calls or take them." On May 25, the Trump campaign issued a statement, saying, "Rick Wiley was hired on a short-term basis as a consultant until the campaign was running full steam. It is now doing better than ever, we are leading in the polls, and we have many exciting events ready to go, far ahead of schedule while Hillary continues her long, boring quest against Bernie."^[32]

Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Donald Trump Campaign Staff. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also[edit]

• Donald Trump
• Donald Trump presidential campaign key staff and advisors experience, 2016
• Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

External links[edit]

• Official Campaign Website

Footnotes[edit]

v • e Influencers Main What is an influencer? Contact the Ballotpedia team

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