Media ‘Mails It In’¹ - Immediate Lessons From Trump Biden Campaigns and Crisis.

It’s breaking news because the media is ignoring the two superstar talents behind the scenes on Trump’s team.  

Who says two #2s reporting to a #1 can’t work? Well, besides myself, there’s a list but this weekend's historical crisis and the presidential election show how we can be wrong.  A rare instance where it is working frankly like a masterpiece in management. 

Presidential campaigns are inherently management messes. Lots of decision makers, junkies and politicians who like to be led around and told what to do, i.e., DeSantis and Biden operations. 

Not the Trump campaign in 2024. It’s led by two high IQ leaders and delivers three high-performance pearls for us all to take home.

Susie Wiles is Trump's de facto campaign manager and is credited with imposing a more professional operation.  She earned it in the trenches, not in a big title given as a job from the outset - we should all take note.  Susie’s keenly level-headed, gets stuff done and originally became an independent political consultant so she could make carpool line at 4 pm. 

The other #2 is Chris LaCivita who’s considered in Trump’s inner circle but also boots on the ground in daily campaign operations.  He is a burly former marine who is task-oriented but is also constantly thinking big picture, like when he ‘swift boated’ Jonny Kerry’s decorated Vietnam service.

They have been running the Trump train on time, making a lot of smart decisions this year while handling a pretty demanding client. 

Here’s How:  Credit to #1 and #2’s.

Trump cleared the air in January - told everybody including Don Jr, Eric, pollsters and consultants, “Susan and Chris are in charge. They set the strategy and execute it. Do what they say.” 

Have you noticed these two campaign people are not on TV?

They know that's Trump’s domain, so smart #2s stays off that turf. It's a beautiful business.  

More credit to the two campaign operatives - they let Trump be Trump. They would rather not have this July 4th message below but they know sometimes in the bigger picture - you just eat it when it is already baked in the cake.

However, Trump listened to them when they put out edicts for the campaign to keep mouths closed after the Biden debate debacle. Trump spent 17 days on the campaign where he did not make a mistake, almost the perfect heroic prelude for an attempted not successful assassination.  Beautiful work. 

The real rarity - two number 2’s successful together.

Here’s how:  When Trump was at the hospital Saturday evening, Susie Wiles had Trump on message with unity and Chris had JD Vance on phone composing a flame-thrower Twitter message to blame Democrats for assassination. And Don Jr was told to say - his dad was “in good spirits”, not the stupid things he would have said on his own whim.

It seems more like agree and conquer than divide. Something we will study. 

Remarkable, compared to what I thought was one of the worst presidential speeches in history - Biden's address Sunday evening. So ordinary that it did not offend a single person in a posse of decision-makers but threw away the oval asset and wasted a crisis.

It's Trump's election to lose. I don’t think so with these two #2’s. These are huge assets he has and grossly ignored by media, which is exactly what they want.

Lesson:  Clarity on who is in charge. Clear up who owns it.  

Two Quick things - our mailer that includes Revelation of a Real Estate boom location is hitting the streets next week. 

Also, a special announcement on Ugo’s leadership session in November. He will hold a sidebar interrogative session on deep and meaningful relationships. 

I have not been included in his sessions but understand the Tarantino ‘Kill Bill’ material. Looking forward to it.  More details coming in mailer. 

Cliff Notes: 

1. To deliver a performance without commitment or effort, with lackluster results.