Insider Reveal: How was Trump set up by his "close friend" Ballard's encryption propaganda post?

Author: Rachael Bade & Caitlin Oprysko, POLITICO

Compiled by: Tim, PANews

PANews Editor's Note: On March 2, Trump posted on his "Truth Social" platform that he instructed the President's Task Force to advance the strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies, including XRP, SOL, and ADA. At that time, the crypto community was excited and surprised: why are BTC, ETH and other valuable coins not included in the strategic reserve? It wasn't until the next day, March 3, that Trump posted that crypto reserves also included BTC and ETH. In the early morning of May 8th, POLITICO, a well-known political media in the United States, gave the answer and broke the inside story of this crypto reserve post, which involved Trump's core circle of friends and a number of senior White House officials.

The main text is as follows:

On a Sunday morning in early March, Trump posted a promotional message about "cryptocurrency strategic reserves" on the Truth platform. A few hours later, he realized that he seemed to have been played.

That weekend, at Mar-a-Lago, an employee from the lobbying firm run by Brian Ballard attended the estate's fundraising event. She repeatedly approached the president to lobby, promoting her desire to advance the gaming industry, and even handed him a draft tweet template she had prepared.

After Trump posted that message on social media, he realized that the company behind a certain cryptocurrency project mentioned in the text, Ripple Labs, was actually a client of Ballard. According to two anonymous insiders, Trump was furious about this and exclaimed that he had been used.

He expressed to the White House staff that "Ballard is not to be involved in any matters going forward." Insiders revealed that the president specifically mentioned the ban on Ballard during the conversation.

Since then, Ballard has become an unpopular figure at the White House.

Since Trump returned to Washington, Ballard has established himself as a top lobbyist in the Washington political scene. Reports about his company often mention that he has employed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi. The reports also always emphasize his decades-long relationship with Trump, as Ballard has intermittently represented the Trump Organization for many years and has been a major fundraiser for Trump's presidential campaigns.

As a lobbyist who can "speak" for Trump, Brian Ballard's company has astonishingly acquired 130 new clients since the U.S. election last November, including business giants such as Chevron, JPMorgan, Palantir, Netflix, Bayer, United Airlines, and T-Mobile. In April of this year, POLITICO's parent company Axel Springer Group also hired Ballard's firm to communicate and lobby with the Trump administration.

Ballard's revenue in the first three months of 2025 reached $14 million, more than three times its lobbying revenue for the same period last year.

But there is a huge gap between Ballard's reputation and the current view of him by the White House.

A photo of Trump taken on his inauguration day hangs on the wall of Brian Ballard's newly established office in Washington, D.C. The photo was taken by POLITICO photographer M. Scott Mahaskey on March 13, 2018, in his office.

According to three informed sources, after the cryptocurrency post incident, Ballard has been at least temporarily excluded from the White House inner circle, and White House staff have been instructed not to meet with him. However, five individuals closely associated with Trump indicated that dissatisfaction with Ballard goes beyond this. Some White House officials believe he is capitalizing on Trump's reputation to profit, promoting his relationship with the president and Wiles, while in reality, these relationships are not as close as he claims.

Another close ally of Trump stated, "A common practice that makes Trump dislike you is to make him feel that you are capitalizing on his reputation." This ally also pointed out that Ballard always exaggerates his status and role.

Trump understands that lobbyists are out to make money, and he knows this very well. But the problem is, how can Ballard openly flaunt and promote himself?

The White House declined to comment.

In a statement, Ballard stated that he and his company "have long been accustomed to false accusations from anonymous sources due to the success the company has achieved." He told POLITICO that he has never sought clients by boasting about his connections with White House officials, while also refuting claims that he has been marginalized.

There are signs that he has not completely severed ties with the White House: POLITICO reviewed the fundraising invitations sent to Ballard since the March events, as well as a record of calls arranged with senior officials of the Trump administration. In addition, clients represented by Ballard still have the opportunity to meet with high-level government officials, such as when the president met with executives from the National Football League earlier this week, which is a client of Ballard.

"Despite the various attempts by these anonymous sources, Ballard Partners will continue to deliver exceptional results and efficient agency services for our clients, which has been our commitment for the past twenty-five years," he stated.

As for the Truth Social incident, a colleague of Ballard stated that there was never an attempt to mislead the President regarding the letters in question.

However, this situation seems to have caused some business troubles for Ballard. According to two insiders, some of Ballard's clients have reached out to other allies of Trump, trying to meet with the president or his inner circle.

Others closer to the core circle are more outspoken.

"Ballard presents himself as a universal lobbyist who can easily connect with the Trump administration, but that is simply not the case," said one of four insiders.

New Business Craze

Since Trump's victory in November, Ballard's new business has experienced explosive growth, especially as Trump has launched a full-scale offensive against his identified political enemies using the overwhelming influence of the presidency.

Ballard's clients achieved some results during Trump's administration. Last fall, TikTok hired the company, benefiting from Trump's temporary commitment not to enforce the ban, and is still operating in the United States. BMW, another client of Ballard, will benefit alongside the entire auto industry, as Trump announced a temporary suspension of certain tariffs last week.

One of the first clients of this company in Washington was the American tobacco giant Reynolds American, which produces the best-selling menthol cigarettes in the United States and placed all its bets on Trump during last year's presidential election. This bet paid off just days after Trump took office — he withdrew the proposal to ban menthol cigarettes.

The American cryptocurrency company Ripple Labs was mentioned in Trump's cryptocurrency-related announcement, and its issued XRP token is also related to this. Notably, the highest financial regulatory agency during the Trump administration has now withdrawn its appeal against a landmark enforcement case involving the company. (PANews note: On May 9, it was reported that Ripple has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to dismiss the case for $5,000.)

Ballard has also been a "fundraising powerhouse" for the president. As a strong fundraiser, he has served as the finance chairman for each Republican presidential candidate in Florida since John McCain's campaign in 2008. He raised tens of millions of dollars for Trump's presidential campaign and the political action committees he supported, and he served as the finance vice chairman for Trump's 2016 inauguration committee.

Shortly after Trump was inaugurated in 2017, Ballard opened a company in Washington D.C. At that time, the business community and world leaders were eager to understand this political novice who had taken over the White House. In his first year in Washington, he quickly amassed a number of high-profile clients, and Ballard Partners became one of the highest-grossing lobbying firms on K Street (the hub of lobbying firms in Washington).

The company's lobbying revenue declined after Trump left office. Despite having many lobbyists with Democratic backgrounds, the Ballard Group remains competitive against other established lobbying firms in Washington.

Ballard Partners' office in Washington is the company's first branch office outside of Florida. Today, the company has established offices in nearly a dozen cities across three continents. Last year, Ballard launched a series of strategic collaborations with multiple government affairs firms worldwide, with partners in Canada, Japan, South Korea, Latin America, the United Kingdom, and Italy.

The entangled past of Ballard and White House Chief of Staff Wiles.

In some ways, Ballard has always had a reputation that diverges from that of the top lobbyists of the Trump administration, which is closely tied to his past entanglements with the president's chief of staff. Many Trump administration insiders who admire Wiles believe that at a time when Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis was trying to destroy Wiles' career, Ballard instead pushed him out of his own company.

Wiles worked for many years at the Ballard Partners in Florida before leaving in 2019 due to health issues. At the time, it was reported that Governor DeSantis spread the word that he had instructed Ballard to fire her. However, both Ballard and Wiles stated that her departure had nothing to do with DeSantis.

Some people believe that their relationship has been repaired since then. According to two close sources, as Ballard gradually integrated into the team during the 2024 campaign, Wiles showed a positive attitude and was unwilling to hold a grudge. More importantly, the funds he injected into Trump's campaign treasury were particularly welcomed.

"Susie puts the campaign first," said a close ally of Trump.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles appeared in the White House Rose Garden ahead of the "Make America Prosperous Again" event on April 2, 2025. —Francis Chung, POLITICO

Nevertheless, many core members of Trump's inner circle, despite their loyalty to the chief of staff, still maintain a skeptical attitude towards him.

"People won't forget (past grievances)," said Trump's ally.

Ballard stated in a statement: "Susie Wiles has been, is, and will continue to be my close friend even after we exit the political arena; any contrary statements are false."

Ballard's client list has also attracted some attention within the White House. He recently signed cooperation agreements with Harvard University and the Public Broadcasting Service, both of which have previously been publicly criticized by the president.

But the "Truth Social" incident was a turning point. That weekend, staff at Mar-a-Lago repeatedly urged Trump to issue that statement.

"Previously, he (Trump) had been dodging her (Ballard staff), but later she kept pestering him, and in the end, he simply handed the matter off to an assistant to handle," a person familiar with the situation described the events.

According to three sources familiar with the matter: just minutes after the president released the news, White House cryptocurrency czar David Sacks angrily called Wiles to complain. At that time, the White House was preparing to host a cryptocurrency summit in Washington next week, and the president's specific praise for certain companies while ignoring others seemed quite inappropriate.

Wiles did not accompany the president that morning, and David Sacks began making calls to find out what was going on. Soon after, White House officials realized that one of the clients mentioned in the Truth Social post was indeed Ballard's, and that the tweet didn't even mention Trump's newly launched cryptocurrency company.

Trump then added the names of other cryptocurrency companies in a second "Truth Social" post, continuing to follow up on the matter. But it was too late, and Trump was furious about this.

Trump's aides were also very angry, accusing Ballard of assigning his own employees to get Trump to promote products for his clients. One of the president's senior aides even called Ballard to angrily reprimand him.