“Lobbying used to be Congress-focused, but they’re not driving the show anymore. They are all now taking orders from the administration. Trump is outsize now, even compared to his last term.” 

— A Republican lobbyist, quoted by New York Magazine.

Wall Street Journal: “It is boom time in Washington for the influence industry, according to interviews with more than a dozen Republican lobbyists. The top 10 lobbying firms in Washington took in about $123 million in the first quarter of 2025, compared with about $80 million in the same time frame of both Joe Biden’s presidency and Trump’s first term.”

“Lobbyists with close ties to Trump are having a particularly lucrative year, covering their office walls with photos of the president and expanding their offices, with some firms even turning down clients because they already have too many.”

“Seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump has become big business for lobbying and consulting firms close to the administration, with wealthy hopefuls willing to spend millions of dollars for help getting their case in front of the right people,” NBC News reports.

Said one lobbyist: “From a lobbying perspective, pardons have gotten profitable.”

“On a Sunday morning in early March, President Donald Trump greenlit a Truth Social post promoting a ‘Crypto Strategic Reserve.’ Hours later, he felt like he’d been played,” Politico reports.

“That weekend at Mar-A-Lago, an employee of the lobby shop run by Brian Ballard who was attending a donor event at the resort, had personally buttonholed the president and encouraged him multiple times to tout his desire to promote the industry. She even gave him a copy of a message she thought he should write.”

“It was only after he posted that missive that Trump realized a company behind one of the tokens named in the post, Ripple Labs, was a Ballard client. He was furious and felt like he’d been used, according to two people familiar with the incident who were granted anonymity to speak candidly.”

Said Trump to his aides: “He is not welcome in anything anymore.”

“Roger Stone, the longtime associate of President Trump’s, has been lobbying for a pioneering cryptocurrency investor known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ who is facing federal fraud and criminal tax charges, according to congressional filings,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Stone filed paperwork last month indicating that he had been retained by Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor who was charged last year and accused of shielding his cryptocurrency holdings from $48 million in taxes.”

From Wall Street Journal editorial page:

“Tariffs impose costs that businesses will want to avoid. They will thus be a windfall for Beltway lobbyists as companies and countries seek exemptions from this or that border tax.”

“Mr. Trump is saying there will be no tariff exemptions. But watch that promise vanish as politicians, including Mr. Trump, see exemptions as a way to leverage campaign contributions from business. Liberation Day is Buy Another Yacht Day for the swamp.”

“Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the centrist dealmaker who wielded virtually unilateral veto power over the Biden administration’s legislative agenda, has landed on K Street,” Politico reports.

Sinema was spotted in the White House driveway Monday.

Politico: “An email circulated by a high-level Republican Senate staffer to GOP Senate offices Friday instructs them to pay heed to the lobbying clients of Covington & Burling and Perkins Coie, two prominent law firms that Trump has singled out for punishment. The Friday missive mimics the president’s recent efforts to crack down on law firms, universities and other entities deemed excessively liberal or anti-MAGA.”

Tara Palmeri: “Donald Trump’s supposedly tightly-run ship capsized Tuesday when the White House sort of paralyzed the government by mistake, with a poorly executed directive that called for freezing all $3 trillion of federal grants and loans that might not reflect Trump’s views. Fingers are now pointing at a little-known lawyer in the Office of Management and Budget, Mark Paoletta, who, The New York Times reports, didn’t clear the directive with Staff Secretary Will Scharf or Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller—the guys who would ostensibly need to sign off on a change of this magnitude. Even Trump seemed annoyed by the sloppy rollout and walkback.”

“All the while, there was a manic meltdown on K Street, as lobbyists scrambled to explain to their private-sector and nonprofit clients how, or even if, previously approved programs, loans, and grants would be honored.”

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is bringing on two big names to help shape policy in its fast-growing industry: Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Chris LaCivita, President Trump’s co-campaign manager in 2024, Semafor reports.

Casey Michel: “There was a time, not long ago, when the fat cats running America’s shady foreign lobbying industry appeared on the defensive. Few encapsulated this trend better than Paul Manafort, the erstwhile campaign manager for Donald Trump and the architect of much of the modern foreign lobbying industry. After years of ushering warlords and right-wing autocrats into the halls of power in Washington, Manafort was sentenced in 2019 to a yearslong imprisonment, primarily for violating America’s existing foreign lobbying laws (among a range of other crimes). It was, for those in far-flung locales such as Ukraine and Nigeria and the Philippines—places decimated by Manafort’s pro-dictatorial work—a moment of celebration. Finally, there was proof that America could hold these kinds of corrupt consiglieres to account.”

“Alas, times change. In hindsight, that sentencing can be viewed as something of a high-water mark in the fight to corral these foreign lobbying networks. Not only did Trump pardon Manafort shortly after his conviction, driving a stake through the heart of America’s anti–foreign lobbying efforts, but just this week, The New York Times reported that Manafort is back and once again up to his old habits. Years have passed, and nothing, it appears, has changed.”

Harvard hired Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm with ties to several of President-elect Donald Trump’s top advisers, last week as it prepares for additional political challenges under a more aggressive White House, the Harvard Crimson reports.

The Florida lobbying firm Rubin, Turnbull & Associates is opening an office in Washington, DC that will be led by Caroline Wiles, the daughter of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles, Politico reports.

Business Insider: “Longtime policy head Nick Clegg — formerly an influential British politician — is leaving the company. Clegg’s replacement is Joel Kaplan, who has spent even more time at Meta — and who has extensive connections with the Republican Party that will be in control of Washington later this month.”

Washington Post: “Over the years, Musk has repeatedly cut ties with outside firms that were brought on to improve relations with government officials and advocate for policies that would be beneficial to his companies…”

“Instead, Musk has sought to form personal relationships with regulators at the Federal Communications Commission, members of Congress — and now the president-elect. That has created a sudden and vexing challenge for those looking to influence the Trump administration through [him].”