As Donald Trump continues to consolidate support for the Republican presidential nomination, the many conservative advisers who orbited him while he was president are turning up again, jockeying for influence and possibly the spoils of a return to the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s creating a challenge for the tight circle of campaign professionals who are trying to win an election while also trying to keep the former president disciplined and focused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one thing about Donald Trump is that he loves the infighting,\u201d said a former adviser who remains in Trump\u2019s orbit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
NBC News spoke to more than a dozen people with knowledge of the Trump world about how many of the people who surrounded him during his often chaotic days in the White House are once again in the mix, some with more credibility and legitimate claims to being part of an inner circle than others. That dynamic will inevitably start to affect Trump\u2019s messages and strategy, but it could also derail him and threaten his focus on the campaign trail.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump has always liked to take counsel from a large network of people, for better or worse. And this campaign is no different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His management style \u201cpits people against each other, but he sits back and it\u2019s like entertainment for him,\u201d this person added. \u201cNo matter what the campaign wants or says, he likes the spectacle of people jockeying for his attention.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n But Trump\u2019s success is due in part to his willingness to entertain a range of viewpoints, said Jason Miller, a spokesperson for the campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cHe likes to get multiple opinions from people who have distinctly different perspectives, because far too often, political leaders will only get opinions from one side and only get opinions from people who have personal interest in how a decision plays out,\u201d Miller said. \u201cGetting input from a number of places and then coming to his own conclusion has always been one of his strengths as a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether Trump enjoys playing people off against one another, Miller responded: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t speak so much to that. There was some talk that maybe that factored into the White House days, but I think that the difference here, and why you don\u2019t see the drama, is because President Trump knows whose opinions he values and he knows who he can trust.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s 2024 campaign staffing has had far less drama than his earlier iterations.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn years and cycles past, there\u2019s always been a level of infighting and trying to climb over one another to the top. That\u2019s not happening now,\u201d a source close to Trump said. \u201cWhile there are some frustrations with individuals at times, there\u2019s no alienation.\u201d <\/p>\n That\u2019s in large part due to the figures at the center of the operation: Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, who serve as de facto co-campaign managers; Miller, a veteran strategist; and longtime adviser Boris Epshteyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wiles, who used to be a top adviser to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis but had a sharp break with him, has received particular plaudits for professionalizing the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n Current and former aides <\/strong>credit Wiles with instilling discipline not only in Trump but also in his motley band of loyalists and advisers \u2014 in part by keeping them within the fold. <\/p>\n There is an honest deference to Wiles, a longtime Trump ally said, including from people whom this person knows Wiles is not necessarily fond of.<\/p>\n \u201cThose closest to the president, and those who are committed to the president, are doing one of two things: They\u2019re raising money, or they\u2019re working hard to get him re-elected,\u201d said Ed McMullen, Trump\u2019s former ambassador to Switzerland, who is raising money for his campaign. \u201cThey are not engaging in the palace intrigue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n An overlooked part of the insiders\u2019 job is to help corral Trump\u2019s allies outside the campaign, without acting as gatekeepers who alienate supporters. They\u2019re a broad circle of loyalists \u2014 some of whom have been with Trump since the beginning \u2014 who once again have his ear.\u00a0<\/p>\n Back in the mix are Stephen Miller, the conservative policy aide who served in the White House, and Steve Bannon, Trump\u2019s ousted former chief strategist, whose podcast has vaulted him to the center of the populist universe and back into Trump\u2019s graces.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s also Ric Grenell, Trump\u2019s former U.S. ambassador to Germany, who is often spotted on the road with him these days, and Kash Patel, a former top Defense Department official. Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host whose prime-time polemics drew blockbuster ratings, is another influential voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Patel, in response, told NBC News, \u201cPresident Trump surrounds himself with the brightest minds in the country and will bring back policies that will make our failing nation prosperous again.”<\/p>\n Bannon has been using his streaming show, \u201cWar Room,\u201d to hint at what policies could come from a second term of a Trump administration. Patel recently suggested on Bannon\u2019s show that Trump could use the power of the federal government to target his political and media enemies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Bannon\u2019s show and the points he\u2019s making on it about a future Trump administration are being taken seriously by top Republican Party donors who are now regularly watching the program, believing that at least some of the things he\u2019s saying could happen if Trump regains power, according to a longtime party fundraiser.\u00a0<\/p>\n Miller, the mastermind behind some of Trump\u2019s most hard-line immigration policies, is working remotely with the policy and speechwriting teams, a source close to Trump said. <\/p>\n Trump is also speaking regularly with his first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who was ousted just one month before the Republican Party\u2019s nominating convention in 2016. <\/p>\n At a stop in New Hampshire this fall, Trump called out for Lewandowski to join him: \u201cWhere is Corey? Corey. Get over here, Corey. Come here, Corey. Give me Corey. I gotta get him up,\u201d Trump said, calling Lewandowski someone \u201cthat\u2019s been with me really from the beginning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Another person back in the fold is Michael Caputo, a longtime Republican operative who has been paid at least $15,000 to be an adviser on the campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings. <\/p>\n Caputo, who for years has been close to Trump and allies such as Roger Stone, has become a key policy adviser to Trump for his 2024 run for the White House, according to two sources briefed on the matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the Trump administration, Caputo was the top spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services. He took a leave of absence after he posted a social media rant accusing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists of \u201csedition\u201d and plotting \u201chow they\u2019re going to attack Donald Trump.\u201d Shortly after he took leave, his spokesman said Caputo had been diagnosed with cancer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For Trump, holding a circle of faithful outsiders at close range holds other advantages: If an idea combusts, \u201cthe campaign can distance itself, arguing, \u2018We never said it.\u2019 If it works, they take credit for it,\u201d a former adviser said, suggesting the tactic was akin to \u201crunning a campaign by proxy.\u201d <\/p>\n While frustrations with some outside people surface at times, the campaign team does not feel it is to anyone\u2019s benefit to try to alienate them, said a source close to Trump. <\/p>\n But still, there is extreme sensitivity to anyone\u2019s trying too hard to position themselves for jobs in a potential second Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump \u201cdoesn\u2019t want people in Washington planning their office space\u201d for a future administration, his advisers say, and when people speculate about who could join his presidential ticket, \u201che shuts it down.\u201d <\/p>\n After NBC News asked the campaign about an ally \u2014 someone Trump has publicly praised \u2014 who is working behind the scenes on vetting candidates to join the ticket, an aide said anyone purporting to be involved \u201chas lost their damned mind.\u201d <\/p>\nThe Insiders<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Trump](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2023-12\/231221-Susie-Wiles-ew-415p-30ca0b.jpg\")
<\/picture>The Outsiders<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2023-05\/230525-steve-bannon-se-124p-32704d.jpg\")
<\/picture>![\"Steph\u00aden](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2023-08\/230810-stephen-miller-mjf-1009-e35ed6.jpg\")
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