Meet Young MAGA’s Most Powerful Players: From the Heir to Ivanka to the GOP’s AOC

When the Republican National Convention starts in Milwaukee on Monday the biggest stars will be on stage: Donald Trump, his vice-presidential nominee, and some of MAGA’s biggest names.

But inside the convention hall and in the parties and quiet gatherings around it, the future stars of the MAGA movement will be jockeying for position—and for power.

For the last few weeks, the Daily Beast has been surveying Trump campaign officials, RNC staffers, and other operatives in Trumpworld to find out who the most powerful movers and shakers in the MAGA movement are.

These Trump climbers, all under the age of 40, are poised to take major roles if there is a second Trump administration. These Trump stalwarts on the rise all have one set of characteristics in common: They cause less drama—most of the time—and are less ideologically rigid than their predecessors at the top of his first White House term.

The Daily Beast has ranked the stars by their influence and power and who MAGA-world believes they will replace. Notably, there was one fixture of Trumpworld for whom no one could name a clear successor: anti-immigration zealot Stephen Miller, 38.

1. James Blair. MAGA’s Glue Guy

Age: 35

They’re the new… If Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon and Roger Stone had a baby.

Meet James: Blair, a Tampa-based Trump stalwart who came by way of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ team, has arguably consolidated more power over the 2024 cycle than any of the other names on this list. Trumpworld operatives heap praise upon him, and he’s at the crux of everything under his new title as the political director for both the Trump campaign and the RNC. He’s also close to both of the power centers at the top of the campaign—Chris LaCivita, the co-campaign manager and RNC co-chair, along with fellow DeSantis alum Susie Wiles.

Part of what led to Blair’s ascension during the primary was his familiarity with the psyche of DeSantis, having previously served as his deputy chief of staff and as a senior adviser for his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. He also has experience working on races in two swing states, Arizona and Michigan, and two states now seen as MAGA strongholds: Florida and Ohio.

2. Brian Jack. The Hill Enforcer

Age: 36

They’re the new… Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).

Bio: Already a well-known and widely liked figure inside of Trumpworld, Jack hasn’t quite burst onto the national scene yet. The former Trump White House political director who got his start on the 2016 campaign is running for Congress in Georgia. If he wins his House race—rated as an R+38 district—he’ll be a freshman on Capitol Hill by January 2025. However, some sources around the Trump campaign think he would have a fast track to leadership. If the likes of Stefanik or others at the top levels of the House GOP conference get administration jobs, that would open up a spot for the Atlanta suburbs native.

3. Karoline Leavitt. Trump’s Briefing Room Warrior

Age: 26

They’re the new… Kayleigh McEnany

Bio: Hailing from New Hampshire, Leavitt almost became the youngest woman ever elected to the House in 2022. She would have beaten the record once set by AOC—and, before that, her mentor Stefanik—before losing to the incumbent, Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH). Some in the Trump campaign have doubts over whether she could step up into such a major role, but she’s already the national press secretary for the campaign and worked in Trump’s White House press shop under McEnany before working for Stefanik in 2021.

4. Andy Surabian. The Smooth Operator

Age: 34

They’re the new… Jared Kushner

Bio: Surabian is a media-savvy gatekeeper in the new buttoned-up version of Trumpworld—think Jared, but without the slim suit or anywhere near the same number of enemies. He’s described as a behind the scenes power player but a veteran of Trumpworld, and well positioned for where the party is moving next.

Yet another product of New England coming out of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, Surabian is close with both Don Jr. and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), both potential heirs to the MAGA throne.

5. Taylor Budowich. The Spin Doctor

Age: 34

They’re the new… Jason Miller

Bio: Another DeSantis alum, Budowich has steadily climbed the ranks in Trumpworld and became one of the integral members of the former president’s team once he left office, running comms for the Save America PAC. He’s also worked for MAGA power couple Don Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle.

6. Alex Bruesewitz. The Attack Dog

Age: 27

They’re the new… Roger Stone

Bio: A Wisconsin native and based in Palm Beach, Bruesewitz has earned a shoutout from Trump at Mar-a-Lago and turned heads when he clashed with a close DeSantis ally at CPAC in 2023 in what became known as “bootgate,” which The Daily Beast first reported that March. He flirted with a run for Congress in his home state this cycle, but ultimately didn’t run. He’s the CEO of the digital fundraising consulting firm X Strategies, and can be seen out and about at the former president’s club and major campaign events. He’s already earned a reputation for playing hardball with rivals of the former president, and shares the Stone mantra of “attack, attack, attack.”

7. Natalie Harp. The Human Printer

Age: 32

They’re the new… Ivanka Trump

Bio: Known within Trumpworld as “golf cart girl” and “the human printer,” Harp enjoys a special status with the former president. For aides and advisers looking to circumvent Trump’s inner circle and provide him information campaign leadership may not want him to see, she’s the go-to. As The Washington Post first reported, she’s best known for following Trump around “equipped with a laptop and sometimes a printer to show him uplifting news articles, online posts, or other materials.”

8. Jack Posobiec. The Shock Jock for the Age of TikTok

Age: 39

They’re the new… Rush Limbaugh

Bio: He’s gone from the Pizzagate guy to enjoying a level of ubiquity among the MAGA base only seen by the likes of the late talk radio host Rush Limbaugh and, more recently, Tucker Carlson before he chucked his relevance into the bin now known as Elon Musk’s X.

He may only have 2.5 million followers on the platform compared to Tucker’s 13.1 million, but in the secondary clip market and new fragmented digital media landscape, “Poso,” as the MAGA faithful call him, is here to stay—except on Bumble, from which he was banned in 2018. He denied using the dating app account because he has “a hot eastern European wife, as everyone knows.”

9. Anna Paulina Luna. The MAGA AOC

Age: 35

They’re the new… Kellyanne Conway

Bio: Already making a name for herself on Capitol Hill, Paulina Luna has admirers at the top level of Trumpworld. The California native and Florida congresswoman has plenty of options on the table, and gets strongest marks from Trump operatives as an adept messenger with a knack for both the inside and outside game of politics.

10. Alex Pfeiffer. The Poll Whisperer

Age: 27

He’s the new… Roger Ailes

Bio: In each era of political dynasties, someone has to be in the right place at the right time. Despite calling Jan. 6 rioters “cousin fucking types,” the MAGA Inc. PAC man and former Tucker Carlson producer—who also covered the early months of the Trump administration at The Daily Caller—has earned the respect of Trump’s inner circle for his knowledge around polling and messaging that resonates with the base, much like a young Ailes did in the Nixon White House before founding Fox News.