How Trump soured on Ronna McDaniel after seven years of unyielding loyalty

Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, has told former President Donald Trump that she’s planning on leaving her role after the South Carolina primary on 24 February.

Mr Trump is set to push for the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, fellow election denier Michael Whatley, to replace her, according to The New York Times.

Ms McDaniel has been under pressure for several months to step down as Mr Trump’s allies have attempted to push her out amid concerns about the RNC’s finances ahead of the general election campaign.

After she met Mr Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Ms McDaniel was “now Head of the RNC, and I’ll be making a decision the day after the South Carolina Primary as to my recommendations for RNC Growth”.

Ms McDaniel has reportedly been thinking about resigning before the end of her term for quite a while.

As an organisation, the RNC focuses on turning out Republican voters and raising funds for the party. In 2016, the committee was forced to work with Mr Trump after he shocked the entire Republican field when he won the nomination and subsequently the general election. In 2020, the Trump campaign handed over a number of important functions to the committee, and during the 2024 campaign, the Trump team is expected to attempt to completely subsume the committee, The New York Times notes.

Ms McDaniel was the chair of the Michigan Republican Party between 2015 and 2017, taking the helm of the national committee just a day before Mr Trump’s inauguration in January of that year. Her predecessor, Reince Priebus, left the post to become Mr Trump’s first White House chief of staff.

Ms McDaniel, niece of Republican Utah Sen Mitt