Donald Trump said he would immediately fire two of his most trusted political advisers, Chris LaCivita and James Blair, if their outside consulting work ever created a conflict of interest, after reports surfaced that the pair had been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each to advise the government of Republika Srpska, a Russia-aligned territory within Bosnia and Herzegovina, ahead of its recent elections.
“If there's a conflict, I will terminate them, immediately!” Trump said, according to Reuters. He described LaCivita and Blair as outside consultants free to take on other clients, adding, “They are allowed to do work for others, just like all consultants in Washington, D.C.” The revelation first came from The New York Times, which reported the two men spent some of the past few days in Republika Srpska, a small self-governing territory that has aligned itself with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump said he did not know the full roster of outside clients his advisers juggle, saying in a post that he would ask them directly. Per the Yahoo News account of his remarks, Trump said, “I do not have any idea who else they work for but will, on reflection, ask them.” The timing is notable: Trump had tapped LaCivita and Blair to lead campaign operations ahead of the November 3 midterm election, according to Reuters, at a moment when the super PAC they help run, MAGA Inc., is sitting on a war chest built for a bruising fight to hold the House and Senate.
Government Work, Party Benefits
The Times reported the consulting arrangement was structured as work for the Republika Srpska government rather than the nationalist Alliance of Independent Social Democrats party that controls it — though sources told the paper the two are essentially one and the same. That party is led by Milorad Dodik, who met with Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 29, 2026, according to the seed reporting from the New York Post.
LaCivita and Blair were paid through a Washington-based law firm retained by the Republika Srpska government, the Times reported, with each receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars. The newspaper's reporting places the pair within a much larger web of Trump-aligned operatives cashing checks from the territory: lobbyists and operatives connected to Trump and Republican allies have collectively been paid more than $4 million by the Republika Srpska government since the beginning of last year, the same Times account states.
A Crowded Field Of Trump-World Consultants
LaCivita and Blair are far from the only Trump-orbit names on Republika Srpska's payroll. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's firm has been paid $1.325 million by the territory since last March, the Times reported. Separately, according to the same Times report, Alex Garcia's firm registered in February to represent Srpska for $35,000 a month, and per Eurasia Review, former national security adviser Michael Flynn was retained as a consultant for the territory at a reported $100,000 a month.
Eurasia Review's analysis found Republika Srpska has spent roughly $5.64 million on registered U.S. lobbying since 2022, with a further increase of about $8.9 million reported from 2025 onward. The outlet noted that the intensification of this lobbying coincided with the later lifting of U.S. sanctions on Dodik, though it cautioned the timing does not prove a direct causal connection. Among the stated goals of the lobbying push, per Eurasia Review, were removing sanctions against Dodik and his associates and shifting the U.S. approach toward the Office of the High Representative, the international body that oversees Bosnia's peace agreement.
Disputed Election, Lingering Questions
The election LaCivita and Blair traveled to advise on produced its own controversy. The ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats party won, according to the Daily Caller, but Bosnia's Central Election Commission was reportedly considering annulling the results entirely because of major technical difficulties. The outlet reported that 201 of Republika Srpska's 1,957 polling stations experienced delays tied to the new voting technology.
Back in Washington, MAGA Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer pushed back on any suggestion the overseas trip distracted from midterm preparations, telling the Times that Blair and LaCivita remained fully engaged in the super PAC's midterm effort throughout their travel. Pfeiffer said the two hosted a team call with race captains on Saturday morning to review recent survey data. The PAC had $415 million in the bank at the end of August, the Times reported, money expected to be deployed heavily on behalf of Republican candidates as the party braces for what the Post described as a potential bloodbath in the Nov. 3 midterms.
LaCivita led Trump's 2024 campaign alongside current White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and remains an important outside ally of the president, according to the Post's reporting. Blair formerly served as Trump's White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs before leaving in May to lead Republican midterm efforts at MAGA Inc. Neither has publicly responded to the reporting on their Bosnia work, and it remains unclear whether the election results will ultimately stand or be rerun.
