Two months after he swept into the 2024 campaign as a senior adviser and suggested he would be taking it over, Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s onetime 2016 campaign chief, has lost that power struggle and been told to focus on being a surrogate, according to people familiar with the matter.
The reassignment may sting for Lewandowski, who technically returned to Trump’s orbit in a leadership role in the summer but quickly made enemies over his suggestion he would mount a power play and questions about whether the campaign mismanaged funds, the people said.
Trump had wanted Lewandowski by his side through the summer until he soured on his antics in recent weeks, they said. Lewandowski has been told to focus on surrogate work and see what he can do about flipping New Hampshire, which Trump came close to carrying in 2016.
Unless the campaign hits more snags that give Lewandowski an opening to play a larger role, the wariness towards him from the wider leadership team loyal to Trump’s campaign chiefs Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita could mean he has diminished influence for the remainder of the cycle.
“He blew himself up,” a Trump official said of Lewandowski. “The entire staff has been working together for two years. You think you’re going to come in at the end and throw your weight around? A bit misguided.”
But Trump does not appear to have fully exiled Lewandowski – a trusted political aide he has turned to in crunch moments, including this summer as he fielded calls from allies urging him to shake up his leadership during the turbulent period when Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee.
Lewandowski was back traveling on Trump’s private plane on Saturday to the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, even if critics say it was an anomaly, and it remains far from clear whether the banishment is permanent given his staying power despite previous transgressions.
In 2016, Lewandowski was unceremoniously fired as campaign chief after he repeatedly clashed with Trump’s children, only to return in 2021 to run a pro-Trump Super Pac until he was ousted from that, too, over unwanted sexual advances towards a female donor.