Former President Donald Trump is expected to add staff to his campaign imminently, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, including the addition of his first 2016 campaign manager and staunch ally, Corey Lewandowski. It was not immediately clear what Lewandowski’s role would be.
Sources stressed the campaign team, co-managed by Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, would not be replaced, but that Lewandowski would be brought on to help navigate the changed political landscape.
“As we head into the home stretch of this election, we are continuing to add to our impressive campaign team,” Wiles and LaCivita said in a statement to CNN. “Corey Lewandowski, Taylor Budowich, Alex Pfeiffer, Alex Bruesewitz, and Tim Murtaugh are all veterans of prior Trump campaigns and their unmatched experience will help President Trump prosecute the case against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the most radical ticket in American history.”
The hiring comes after a change at the top of the Democratic ticket has brought a burst of enthusiasm and a boost in the polls for Trump’s new rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Earlier this month, the campaign brought on another long time Trump ally, Budowich, as a senior adviser to the campaign. Budowich has been the head of the super PAC, MAGA, Inc., for the last two years.
Trump’s campaign has downplayed Harris’ significance, arguing that despite the change in the dynamics of the race, the “fundamentals” of the campaign have remain the same.
But allies of the former president have grown increasingly agitated in recent weeks, as they’ve watched Trump unleash a torrent of mean-spirited missives, race-baiting insults and conspiratorial broadsides that even they acknowledge have been unproductive. Some have privately expressed serious concern that Trump’s recent inability to stay on message has wasted an early opportunity to blunt the momentum of his new opponent.
Privately, they’ve complained about the state of the campaign – arguing that things need to change.
Ultimately, Trump is the candidate, and whether or not he is disciplined enough do what many Republicans believe is necessary to win November, namely stay on message, remains to be seen.
Lewandowski served as Trump’s campaign manager from June of 2015 until he was fired a year later, amid a series of negative stories, and replaced with Paul Manafort.
His return to Trump world comes after Make America Great Again Action severed ties with Lewandowski in 2021 following reports that a donor accused him of making unwanted sexual advances toward her. Lewandowski later made a deal with prosecutors to avoid a misdemeanor charge stemming from the alleged sexual harassment.
