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Donald Trump has distanced himself from two of his closest campaign strategists after it was revealed they had traveled to the Balkans to advise a pro-Russian government less than a month before the US midterm elections.
In a message published Wednesday on his Truth Social website, the US president said that his longtime aides, Chris LaCivita and James Blair, “do not work for me other than as outside consultants.”
But he added: “I have no idea who else they work for, but on second thought I will ask them and, if there is a conflict, I will fire them immediately!”
Trump’s remarks come a day after The New York Times revealed that LaCivita, who co-led Trump’s 2024 campaign, and Blair, who until recently served as White House deputy chief of staff, advised the government of Republika Srpska, an autonomous entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ahead of last Sunday’s election.
Blair and LaCivita now work with Maga Inc, the Trump-aligned Super Pac (political action committee) with a $400 million war chest that funds many Republican campaigns. Maga Inc did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When Blair left the White House in April, Trump hailed him as “one of the most brilliant political minds in the country” and announced that the Republican strategist would return to his administration after his work on the midterm campaign.
LaCivita, who is an outside advisor to Maga Inc and never held a position in the Trump administration, was a key architect of the president’s 2024 return.
However, he has previously been embroiled in controversy regarding his consulting activities. In 2024, the Atlantic magazine reported that Trump was “furious” over a report that LaCivita had earned $22 million in presidential campaign work. LaCivita then sued the Daily Beast, which reported the figure, calling it defamatory, before settling the lawsuit.
LaCivita has also faced criticism from parts of Trump’s Maga coalition — notably from former White House strategist Steve Bannon — for his decision to align with the Republican Party establishment in favor of incumbent Texas Sen. John Cornyn over his primary challenger Ken Paxton. The president ultimately endorsed Paxton.
At the White House on Wednesday, Trump shrugged off any alleged conflicts over LaCivita and Blair’s outside work. “They don’t have conflict because they are independent people,” he said. “They don’t work in the White House, they don’t sit around a cabinet table or anything like that.”
But the president added that he would ask the two men for their client list.
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