As Donald Trump returns to the White House and promises to destroy “business as usual” in Washington, the city’s lobbyists are preparing for a sea change in how – and where – they do business.
“Florida is becoming the power hub for the country,” Bill Helmich, a lobbyist and close Trump ally, told Business Insider. “It’s where decisions will be made.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Evan Power, a lobbyist who chairs the Florida GOP. “Florida is now the epicenter of Trumplandia,” says Power.
A dozen leading lobbyists, some of whom spoke to BI on condition of anonymity, say a significant presence in Florida is now an essential part of doing business in Washington. That means, first and foremost, hiring lobbyists in the state to work the halls and corridors of Mar-a-Lago, where Trump and his inner circle have mapped out the transition and made Cabinet picks. A presence at the resort — along with the golf courses Trump owns in West Palm Beach, Doral and Jupiter — is now seen as major currency in the lobbying game.
Never before, lobbyists say, has the geographic center of power shifted so dramatically with the arrival of a new government. In many ways, they say, Palm Beach will become the new K Street — the headquarters of the industry with political influence — especially since Trump no longer owns luxury hotel blocks next to the White House.
“It hasn’t been this tense on Capitol Hill since 1994, when the Republicans had their contract with America.”
Moreover, the consensus among lobbyists is that anyone hoping to influence Trump this time will have to forego traditional lobbying conventions. “We can’t do this the same old way,” says a prominent lobbyist with ties to Trump. “Trump is such a wild card, and that gives him a lot of influence. Lobbying efforts probably won’t work the way they used to.”
For lobbyists in Washington, this means changing the way they talk about the world to appeal to the hardcore MAGA loyalists who have managed to capture Trump’s attention and dominate his inner circle. “This is not Trump 2.0,” said Justin Sayfie, a partner at Ballard Partners, a major lobbying firm with deep roots in Florida and an office down the street from Mar-a-Lago. “It’s more like Trump 5.0. This is the most anti-Washington president we have elected since maybe Andrew Jackson.”
When it comes to lobbying, Ballard Partners was the big winner of Trump’s first term. The company’s success offers some lessons for lobbying firms eager to capitalize on their ties to Trump and his inner circle and establish a beachhead in Florida.
Before Trump’s unexpected victory in 2016, Ballard Partners had no significant presence anywhere in Washington. But its founder, Brian Ballard, had been part of Trump’s inner sanctum — first as a top fundraiser in Florida, then as part of the president-elect’s transition team. By leveraging its access to Trump, Ballard Partners was able to compete with the legacy lobbying firms that have been the dominant players in the industry for decades.
In 2017, the first year of Trump’s term, Ballard added dozens of major clients, including Google, Amazon, Uber, American Airlines, Honda, tobacco giant Reynolds American, private prison company Geo Group and the American Health Care Association. In 2020, Ballard was the nation’s seventh-largest federal lobbying firm by revenue — an astonishing feat for an office that was only three years old. Ballard’s Florida lobbying firm, meanwhile, regularly ranks among the state’s highest-earning firms, making it ideally positioned to once again be the lobbying shop of choice for corporations and special interests eager to work with Trump and his MAGA allies in Congress.
Corporate clients need lobbyists who realize that Trump is “disrupting the status quo in Washington,” says Sayfie, Ballard’s lobbyist. “This creates a sense of both possibilities – and great worry and anxiety to navigate.”
Every presidential transition brings major challenges for companies. Business thrives on stability; it is difficult to make plans amid all the uncertainty arising from changing political philosophies, legislative objectives and regulatory ambitions. But lobbying insiders say Trump’s presidential transition has brought a new level of unpredictability — one that also represents a golden opportunity for those who can take advantage of it.
“Trump has a mandate from the American people and he is taking advantage of it,” said B. Jeffrey Brooks, a partner at Adams and Reese, a law firm with more than 300 attorneys and lobbyists across the country. “It hasn’t been this tense on Capitol Hill since 1994, when the Republicans had their contract with America.”
Through his appointments and his campaign promises, lobbyists say, Trump has clearly signaled his desire to reshape Washington in Florida’s image of outright and “woke” struggle – and to do so from the comfort of his “Winter White House,” now a political organization. sconce for all seasons. Many of the top positions in Trump’s administration are already going to Floridians who have supported him through his many legal and political troubles. They include two former Ballard lobbyists: Susie Wiles, whom Trump appointed as White House chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, his pick for attorney general.
“The Trump team has clear, new views that are not the old Washington,” said Colin Roskey, director of the lobbying firm FHP Strategies, who served as deputy assistant secretary of Health and Human Services during the first Trump administration.
Some major companies, lobbyists say, have been caught off guard by the rapid pace of Trump’s transition moves. “They’re panicking a little bit,” said Dave Wenhold, a partner at Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies, which provides clients with lobbying and strategic planning. “Things are going to come at them fast and furious, more so than before, and this is where the lobbying community can really show its value.”
There’s also a new way companies can try to influence Trump — without making their influence public. Unlike its predecessors, Trump is allowing donors – including foreigners – to finance his transition secretly, through unlimited private contributions. Those who fund his staff and travel before he takes office, lobbyists say, can build connections and ingratiate themselves with the once and future commander in chief. “People appreciate people who have invested in them,” said Power, chairman of the Florida GOP.
All told, Trump’s unique take-no-prisoners style has lobbyists excited about the possibilities for influence. Scott Mason, a senior policy advisor at the lobbying firm Holland & Knight who served as director of congressional relations for Trump’s presidential campaign and transition team in 2016, is blunt about the prospects of Trump 2.0: “It’s going to be a great year for the lobbying world,” he says.
In fact, having a good lobbyist may be more important than ever. Whatever companies think of Trump and his policies, they now face the prospect of a president who openly talks about pursuing retaliation for what he sees as slights. During his campaign, Trump threatened John Deere with tariffs, called for the prosecution of Google and depressed Meta’s stock price by denouncing Facebook as “an enemy of the people.” In an environment of fear and uncertainty, lobbyists expect their business to boom – likely exceeding the record $4.2 billion clients spent on federal lobbying last year.
“You have to recognize the impact Washington has on your business,” Mason says. “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
Dave Levinthal is an investigative journalist based in Washington DC. Until 2022, he was a reporter and editor at Business Insider.
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