Trump’s Latest Financial Backers Come With a Seriously Sketchy Catch
A new Trumpian super PAC has hit the market—just in time for its donor details to remain secret until after the November election.The America First Action Fund was organized on October 18, just late enough in the game to skirt donor disclosures until after Election Day, independent journalist Roger Sollenberger reported Wednesday. The move will prevent any transparency around exactly which individuals are fueling Trump’s campaign this late in election season.The freshly minted super PAC is tied to two separate dark money groups by way of its treasurer, Ashley Hayek, a 2020 Trump campaign staffer who also serves as the executive director of America First Works and the chief engagement officer of the America First Policy Institute.That latter group, like the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, is one of several in the running to offer staff picks and transition roadmaps for a potential second term under Donald Trump.But as a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit, America First Policy Institute can’t formally support a candidate for office. Instead, it’s been quietly focused on driving some of Trump’s chief policy goals, including deregulating the federal government. America First Policy Institute received Trump’s blessing even before it was founded in 2021, reported Politico. “For three and a half years, AFPI has focused on personnel and policy. It was formed by and is teeming with senior staffers from the first Trump Administration whose goal is to be ready on day one,” Kellyanne Conway, the former Trump adviser who chairs AFPI’s Center for the American Child, told Politico in August. “Linda McMahon, Brooke Rollins and the team have planned with precision and executed with put-your-head-down type humility.”
A new Trumpian super PAC has hit the market—just in time for its donor details to remain secret until after the November election.
The America First Action Fund was organized on October 18, just late enough in the game to skirt donor disclosures until after Election Day, independent journalist Roger Sollenberger reported Wednesday. The move will prevent any transparency around exactly which individuals are fueling Trump’s campaign this late in election season.
The freshly minted super PAC is tied to two separate dark money groups by way of its treasurer, Ashley Hayek, a 2020 Trump campaign staffer who also serves as the executive director of America First Works and the chief engagement officer of the America First Policy Institute.
That latter group, like the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, is one of several in the running to offer staff picks and transition roadmaps for a potential second term under Donald Trump.
But as a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit, America First Policy Institute can’t formally support a candidate for office. Instead, it’s been quietly focused on driving some of Trump’s chief policy goals, including deregulating the federal government. America First Policy Institute received Trump’s blessing even before it was founded in 2021, reported Politico.
“For three and a half years, AFPI has focused on personnel and policy. It was formed by and is teeming with senior staffers from the first Trump Administration whose goal is to be ready on day one,” Kellyanne Conway, the former Trump adviser who chairs AFPI’s Center for the American Child, told Politico in August. “Linda McMahon, Brooke Rollins and the team have planned with precision and executed with put-your-head-down type humility.”
