SEATTLE – One was a campaign manager later fired after being accused of “inappropriate” behaviour by the wife of a major donor, another was imprisoned for tax fraud, and one is a notorious “ratf**ker” freed by Donald Trump after being jailed for lying to Congress.
As the former president campaigns for a return to the White House, some of his most extreme associates of old – sidelined even by Mr Trump himself – are returning to his circle.
Reports say Paul Manafort, who took charge of the Trump campaign in the summer of 2016 and was later jailed for more than seven years, is being lined up to run this summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Corey Lewandowski, another figure from the campaign later deemed toxic, is said to have been approached to assist Mr Manafort. Meanwhile, Roger Stone, a veteran political operative who once worked for Richard Nixon and whose sentence Mr Trump commuted, has been campaigning for him and visited his Mar-a-Lago estate.
They are just a handful of the fringe figures, labelled “crazies” by some of his top advisers, eyeing a return to Trumpworld, according to Axios.
The Republican National Committee (RNC), whose co-chair is Mr Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, recently hired Christina Bobb, a lawyer and TV anchor with the right-wing One America News who drew opprobrium from Republicans after promoting false election fraud claims following Mr Trump’s 2020 loss.
Mr Trump also wanted to retain Laura Loomer, known in conservative circles as a far-right anti-Muslim activist who was banned from social media, before being told by his campaign manager her presence could backfire on him.
Experts say that with the businessman vowing “retribution” if awarded a second term, the people he is associating himself now – many of them conspiracy theorists who backed his false claim the 2020 election was rigged – provides a clear indication of what to expect.
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Saladin Ambar, a professor of political science at Rutgers University in New Jersey, says that during his first term Mr Trump did appoint some establishment figures who were not ideological loyalists. Among them was John Bolton, his national security adviser.
Professor Ambar tells i that should Mr Trump be re-elected, it is unlikely even such relative moderates would be part of his administration.
“Those kinds of people will be gone in exchange for true and utter loyalists,” he says. “The language of retribution points to that. He’s suggesting anyone who’s been opposed to him – past, present and perhaps future – better look out.”
As part of preparations for another term, Mr Trump’s right-wing allies have been working on Project 2025, a set of policy proposals that could see many traditional civil servant jobs filled by thousands who sign loyalty pledges to him. Those around him believe such a move would enable the 77-year-old to counter the effect of what they see as the “deep state”, namely officials who declined to do as demanded or break the rules.
Zachary Mueller, senior research director for America’s Voice, a non-profit advocating for immigrant rights, believes one of the most chilling prospects of a second Trump term would be his immigration policies.
Having repeatedly termed undocumented migrants “animals” during his campaign speeches, Mr Trump has promised mass deportations and a new Muslim travel ban, similar to the one he imposed by an executive order during his first term. That policy could likely be overseen by hardline loyalist Stephen Miller. Mr Trump has said he will boost immigration enforcement by reassigning other federal agents, local police officers and National Guard soldiers.
“We will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” the former president told a rally last September in Iowa.
Mueller says the “second term would be exponentially worse than what we had seen previously”.
He believes the political violence like that seen during Mr Trump’s first term, such as the attack on a supermarket with largely Hispanic customers in El Paso in 2019 that killed 29 people that was carried out by a white nationalist, will be worse.
“We saw that repeatedly throughout the Trump administration, where individuals were engaged in domestic terrorist attacks,” he says. “What’s even more concerning is that Mr Trump’s allies have not moderated. They’ve become more radical.”
Many of the presumed Republican nominee’s largest donors also have extreme views. Over the weekend the former president hosted an event at Mar-a-Lago where he said he raised more than $50m, the biggest single event of the campaign season so far, bettering the $26m raised by Joe Biden in New York last week at an event also featuring Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Among those said to be present at the event in Florida were John Catsimatidis, a billionaire businessman and radio host who once compared taxing wealthy people to the Holocaust.
Listed as a co-chair of the fundraiser was hedge fund investor Robert Mercer, who has claimed passing the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act was a mistake, and hotelier Robert Bigelow, who gave $20m to Ron DeSantis’s suspended presidential bid.
He did so as Mr DeSantis clashed with Disney over the so-called “Don’t say Gay” bill, which prevented teachers discussing gender identity and sexuality with school pupils.
The former president reportedly said at the event that he wanted migrants from “nice” countries “like Denmark”.
The Trump campaign did not respond to i‘s requests for comment.
