Trump recruitment failure sets off alarms over 2020

Former White House official Nick Ayers had been expected to take a senior advisory role with the super PAC after departing the administration late last year. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo


America First Action is central to the president's billion-dollar campaign plans, but the super PAC is struggling to find someone to take the reins.

By ALEX ISENSTADT and GABBY ORR 03/01/2019 05:03 AM EST

President Donald Trump wants to raise $1 billion for his reelection. But his top advisers worry that the super PAC at the center of that effort is hurting, lacking a high-wattage leader who can cajole millionaire and billionaire donors to fork over huge sums.

Trump political aides, members of the president’s family and top Republicans have been considering potential candidates to spearhead America First Action’s 2020 fundraising efforts. They want someone with deep ties to the president and the clubby world of major GOP donors.

But the nationwide search has so far come up empty. Super PAC organizers at one point came up with a roster of around two dozen names that included Robert Kraft, who was never seriously considered but was quashed anyway after the New England Patriots owner — a fixture at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort — was charged with soliciting prostitution. Another person floated for the post was GOP benefactor Kelly Craft, but she was ruled out after being nominated for United Nations ambassador.

Then there’s Nick Ayers. A former White House official who is close to many top Republican givers, he had been widely expected to take a senior advisory role with the super PAC after departing the administration late last year. But the 36-year-old Ayers, who’s spent the past few months with his family and quail hunting in Georgia, has yet to sign on.

More:
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/01/trump-2020-super-pac-1197066