Trump Threatens To ‘Terminate’ Two Political Advisors Who Did Work for Pro-Russian Government in the Balkans

Following a report from the New York Times detailing how two of President Trump’s political advisors doing work for a pro-Russian government in the Balkans, Mr. Trump is threatening to “terminate” both men if there were any conflicts of interest. The advisors were reportedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their work ahead of elections which were held Sunday. The Times report on James Blair and Chris LaCivita — the chief political advisors to Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign — detailed how the two men were doing lucrative work in Republika Srpska just weeks before the midterm elections here in the United States. Republika Srpska is one of the two constituent entities Bosnia and Herzegovina which was established in 1992 as a place of refuge for the country’s Serb population at the outset of the Bosnian War. According to the Times, Messrs. Blair and LaCivita were each paid hundreds of thousands of dollars through a Washington law firm by the government of Republika Srpska which is currently controlled by a nationalist party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, or SNSD. The party has embraced Russia and President Putin in the past, with the entity’s former president and SNSD leader, Milorad Dodik, meeting with Mr. Putin just a week before the election. Mr. Dodik awarded Mr. Putin with the highest honor he can bestow, the Order of Republika Srpska, in 2023. On Sunday, Mr. Dodik’s party came in first place in the popular vote for the National Assembly, taking more than 39 percent of ballots cast, compared to the party that came in second place which only won 14 percent of the vote. Another member of the SNSD, Prime Minister Savo Minić was also elected president on Sunday with more than 52 percent of the vote. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Mr. Trump threatened to punish Messrs. Blair and LaCivita — the top advisors to his super PAC, MAGA Inc. Mr. Blair served as White House deputy chief of staff for political affairs before leaving the administration to work on the midterms. Mr. LaCivita never joined the White House team after the 2024 victory. “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,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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!” the president declared. American political advisors doing work for political parties and governments abroad has occurred often in the past with little scrutiny, though the fact that Messrs. Blair and LaCivita were doing so while also working on American elections is unusual. President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign manager, Jim Messina, worked for a number of European political parties, including the British Conservatives, the Spanish People’s Party, and Italy’s then-prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in 2016. Mr. Obama’s chief political advisor, David Axelrod, also did work in Europe for Britain’s Labour Party during the 2015 general election, though both he and Mr. Messina had concluded their work here in the United States before doing consulting work abroad.

Trump Threatens To ‘Terminate’ Two Political Advisors Who Did Work for Pro-Russian Government in the Balkans

Trump Threatens To ‘Terminate’ Two Political Advisors Who Did Work for Pro-Russian Government in the Balkans

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