Trump threatens to ‘terminate’ close aides who also advised pro-Putin government
Longtime advisers Chris LaCivita and James Blair sidelined as ‘outside consultants’ who ‘do not work for me’
Become an Independent member to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.
Join todayAlready a member? Log in
Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from two close political advisers who traveled to the Balkans to advise the pro-Russian government of Republika Srpska while in the middle of crucial midterm elections planning in the U.S.
Chris LaCivita and James Blair, a pair of long-time allies and close advisers overseeing the president’s political operation, are merely “outside consultants” who “do not work for me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I do not have any idea who else they work for but will, on reflection, ask them and, if there’s a conflict, I will terminate them, immediately!” the president wrote Wednesday.
LaCivita, who served as Trump’s 2024 co-campaign manager, and Blair, who until recently was Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff, were reportedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars through a Washington, D.C.-based law firm retained by Republika Srpska’s government ahead of Sunday’s elections in the small self-governing territory in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to The New York Times.
They reportedly defended their work for the far-right government, not the nationalist party that controls it, despite being largely the same. Under that party’s control, Republika Srpska has aligned itself with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After leaving the White House earlier this year, Blair now leads the Trump-connected super PAC MAGA Inc..
LaCivita works as a senior adviser to the group.
“Chris LaCivita and James Blair are outside consultants. They do not work for me, other than as outside consultants. They most likely have numerous clients, but for that, you would have to ask them,” Trump wrote Wednesday.
“They are allowed to do work for others, just like all consultants in Washington, D.C. I do not have any idea who else they work for but will, on reflection, ask them and, if there’s a conflict, I will terminate them, immediately! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.
He told reporters at the White House that “they don’t have a conflict, because they’re independent, they don’t work for me.”
“They are consultants, and I assume they have a lot of clients, so, I don’t know who their clients are,” he said. “If I thought they had a conflict, I would terminate, but all they are is consultants.”
Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for MAGA Inc., declined to comment to The New York Times about the pair’s trip to the Balkans.
But they’re not along when it comes to Trump allies who have worked with the government of Republika Srpska.
Lobbyists and operatives with connections to the president and the Republican Party have been paid more than $4 million by the nationalist government since Trump returned to office last year, according to the Department of Justice.
Those efforts appeared to compel the Trump administration to lift sanctions against Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik, his family and aides.
Trump’s announcement marked the latest in a streak of apparent reversals from a president who refuses to admit wrongdoing in the face of ethics scandals and criminal investigations.
On Monday, the president said he would stop using taxpayer money to run campaign-style television ads celebrating himself and his administration, though the White House said the president will not reimburse the government for millions of dollars already spent on the campaign.
Last month, the president said his son Donald Trump Jr. was paying back a Kremlin-connected Russian businessman for six-figure wedding celebrations revealed by ProPublica.
Umar Kremlev — the head of the International Boxing Association, which has a controversial, long-standing financial relationship to Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom — helped funnel money into renting a private island in the Bahamas, where a reception was held and where guests slept.
Kremlev said Tuesday that the president’s oldest son had reimbursed him for his wedding weekend party, though he questioned why the repayment was made. “Yes, he did,” Kremlev said during an International Boxing Association press conference in Istanbul. “He did repay the money I spent on the present.”