LIBRARY FINE

Trump Goons Busted Cashing In Pay Up to Save Their Skins

Chris LaCivita and James Blair’s jobs were on the line following a damning report on their overseas grifting.

Two of Donald Trump’s top aides are desperately trying to get back into his good books by donating money they received from a pro-Putin regime to help build his presidential library.

Chris LaCivita and James Blair were widely condemned—including by the president—after they were found to have traveled to Republika Srpska, a small, self-governing area of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Eastern Europe, to advise the pro-Russian ruling party on how to win an upcoming election, reportedly for a six-figure fee.

The side hustle by Trump’s longtime aides was particularly egregious, as the “America First” political operatives traveled to the Balkans in early October, during the crucial run-up to the Nov. 3 midterm elections, in which the GOP is predicted to suffer an electoral wipeout. An irate Trump immediately distanced himself from the two aides and warned he would “terminate them, immediately” if they were found to have a conflict of interest.

However, LaCivita and Blair hope to appease Trump by donating the money they received from the party of Milorad Dodik, the president of the separatist Serbian entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a staunch supporter of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, sources told the New York Post.

Trump is said to be “gloating” and “very braggadocious” after hearing that LaCivita and Blair will hand over their consultancy fees, believed to be more than $100,000 each, to help build his planned presidential library in Miami.

LaCivita, who co-managed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign alongside Susie Wiles, now the White House chief of staff, confirmed the donation in a fawning post on X.

“Preserving the legacy and story of @realDonaldTrump is an honor and a no brainer,” LaCivita wrote while sharing the Post article.

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Trump originally threw both LaCivita and Blair—who served as White House deputy chief of staff before leaving to lead MAGA Inc., the Trump-backed super PAC—under the bus after The New York Times reported on their paid work in the Balkans.

“Chris LaCivita and James Blair are outside consultants. They do not work for me, other than as outside consultants,” Trump said in a Truth Social post written and shared by his favorite White House aide Natalie Harp.

“They are allowed to do work for others, just like all consultants in Washington, D.C. I do not have any idea who else they work for but will, on reflection, ask them and, if there’s a conflict, I will terminate them, immediately!”

The president is said to be cooling off after his initial anger toward the pair. Blair, who also worked on Trump’s 2020 campaign in Florida and served as political director of Trump’s 2024 bid, joined Trump when he traveled to South Carolina on Wednesday for a campaign rally.

A White House official told the Post on Thursday that Trump will not blame Blair if Republicans suffer catastrophic defeats in the midterms.

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In January, LaCivita dropped a lawsuit against The Daily Beast that he had filed over an article reporting that his consulting firm had been paid millions of dollars by the campaign through a variety of contracts.

LaCivita withdrew the suit without producing any discovery documents, including his tax returns. The Daily Beast did not retract the story, apologize, or make any payment.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House, LaCivita, and Blair for comment.

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