Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has offered to leave her position following the South Carolina primary later this month to allow former President Donald Trump to install his own leaders of the party, two party advisers told CNN. She has also discussed those plans with Trump, according to a person a familiar.
RNC spokesperson Keith Schipper told CNN in a statement that “nothing has changed. This will be decided after South Carolina.”
The New York Times was first to report on McDaniel’s future.
McDaniel’s offer to resign comes as tensions between Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, and the RNC have heightened in recent days and as the former president’s team has begun quietly floating names to replace her.
CNN reported earlier Monday that North Carolina Republican Party chairman Michael Whatley and South Carolina Republican Party chairman Drew McKissick are among the names being floated by Trump’s team, according to two sources with knowledge of internal discussions.
Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters, a longtime Trump supporter, is also a possibility, according to one source with knowledge of those internal discussions. Trump had previously endorsed both Gruters and Whatley for officer positions at the RNC, but both lost their respective bids.
Trump said on social media Monday that he would “be making a decision the day after the South Carolina Primary as to my recommendations for RNC Growth,” laying down a clear marker for his plans to get more intimately involved in changes at the committee.
That declaration came just hours after Trump and McDaniel had met for more than two hours at his Mar-a-Lago resort to discuss the direction of the RNC, two sources briefed on the meeting told CNN, both of whom described it as cordial.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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