Wolking isn’t the only Trump staffer to have migrated to DeSantis’ side recently.Įrin Perrine, a deputy communications director from Trump’s 2020 operation, also joined DeSantis’ super PAC. “Matt’s a nice guy and a solid operative, but the fact that anyone thinks he’s gonna have a meaningful impact on a presidential race is absurd,” one Republican operative with ties to both DeSantis and Trump aides said. Glenn Youngkin’s successful 2021 campaign.īut others have scoffed at comparisons that DeSantis’ camp drew between him and another prominent Republican who switched camps: Susie Wiles, the former DeSantis strategist turned top Trump 2024 adviser. After Trump’s 2020 defeat, the strategist added to his resume with a top role on Virginia Gov. Some operatives still in Trump’s camp argue that Wolking shouldn’t be underestimated. While Wolking remained so loyal that his Twitter page displayed a Trump tweet wishing him a happy birthday-and still does-one source said it was just a favor passed up the ranks to Trump’s social media guru Dan Scavino, who often tweeted from Trump’s account. Sources told The Daily Beast that Wolking never had much face time with Trump.

While Wolking is a well-liked operative and “really good” when it comes to opposition research, according to one Trump adviser, MAGA operatives have worked overtime to argue that losing him isn’t much of a loss. In typical Trumpworld fashion, loyalists are promising that former Trump staffers who work for DeSantis will face the ex-president’s considerable appetite for revenge.Īnother source that has spoken with Trump in recent months said that he was “laser-focused on destroy” the Florida governor and ensuring that DeSantis’ staffers would be unable to get a job in his operation moving forward. In the near future, everyone over there will either be fired, indicted, or working for Laura Loomer anyway.”Ī Trump spokesperson did not return The Daily Beast’s request for comment.

“No one in their right mind who wants to see Biden out of the White House would work for Trump now. “Ron DeSantis is a conservative winner and undefeated fighter who represents the future,” he said. Reached for comment by The Daily Beast, Wolking didn’t hold back. “He used to say that about Mexico,” too, the adviser added. One Trump adviser, speaking to The Daily Beast, recalled Trump quipping that his own camp isn’t sending their “best and brightest” or “geniuses” to DeSantis’ orbit. Sources close to Trump’s operation, of course, have tried to downplay the significance of defections from Wolking and a smattering of other former Trump staffers. But in the weeks that have followed, Wolking’s move has only continued to curdle the already sour relationships between the camps of the GOP’s two leading presidential contenders-and set the tone for the inevitable squabbles and betrayals that are to come in the 2024 race.

Unorthodox the scandalous