The #corporate #lobbyist who will run the #Trump White House

by Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby
Jan 13, 2025

"Two days after he won the election, Trump announced his first selection for his White House staff. He picked corporate lobbyist #SusieWiles to be White House Chief of Staff.

"In 2011, Wiles joined the #BallardPartners, a Florida lobbying firm founded by Republican operative Brian Ballard. In 2015, according to a report in the New York Times, Trump asked Ballard who could help him win the state. Ballard recommended Wiles. After Trump won the 2016 election, Wiles decided to help Ballard 'set up a Washington office rather than join the new administration.' Prior to Trump winning the White House, Ballard Partners had no federal clients.

"It was a lucrative decision, with Ballard Partners raking in $70 million in lobbying fees during the first Trump presidency. Wiles personally represented numerous corporate clients for millions in fees, including #SwisherSweets, a #tobacco company that markets candy-flavored cigars, #RepublicServices, a waste management company seeking to avoid a federal requirement to remove #radioactive material from a dump in the #SaintLouis suburbs, and the #ConsumerEnergyAlliance, a front group for the #FossilFuel industry."

https://popular.info/p/the-corporate-lobbyist-who-will-run
#USPol #Oligarchy #CorporateColonialism #WestLakeLandfill #BigOilAndGas #RadioactiveWaste