Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has discussed leaving her role with former President Donald Trump, with both agreeing to delay a decision until after South Carolina's Feb. 24 primary, sources familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

What You Need To Know

  • Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has discussed leaving her role with former President Donald Trump, sources told the AP

  • Both agreed to delay a decision until after South Carolina's Feb. 24 primary

  • McDaniel has faced vocal opposition from leading far-right figures who largely blamed her for the GOP's political struggles since Trump's 2016 election

  • A potential successor being discussed is Michael Whatley, who has been North Carolina GOP chair since 2019 and is a supporter of Trump's false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election

McDaniel has not formally decided to step down and leave her role as head of the GOP's political machine, the sources said. But having long faced vocal opposition from a faction of the party, McDaniel is under renewed pressure after Trump publicly questioned whether she should stay in the job.

During what was described as a cordial private meeting Monday in Florida, Trump and McDaniel discussed the possibility that she would step down as one of a range of possibilities for changes within RNC leadership.

But they agreed not to make any final decisions until after South Carolina's primary, in which Trump is seeking to deliver a knockout blow to his last major challenger, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, a native of the state and its former governor.

"Nothing has changed," RNC spokesperson Keith Schipper said in a statement. "This will be decided after South Carolina."

A potential successor being discussed is Michael Whatley, who has been the North Carolina GOP chair since 2019, according to a source familiar with the matter. Whatley also serves as general counsel to the RNC.

An adamant backer of Trump's "stop the steal" efforts, Whatley ran last year for co-chair of the RNC with Trump's backing. But he trailed badly and withdrew from the contest for the party's second top-ranking post.

McDaniel has faced vocal opposition from leading far-right figures who largely blamed her for the GOP's political struggles since Trump's 2016 election. Then-candidate Vivek Ramaswamy attacked McDaniel during one of the Republican presidential debates last year, which took place after a poor showing for Republicans in Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.

"We’ve become a party of losers," Ramaswamy said at the time, blaming a "cancer in the Republican establishment."

"Since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost in 2018, 2020, 2022 – no red wave, that never came. We got trounced last night in 2023,” he said, adding: “Ronna, if you want to come on stage tonight, you want to look the GOP voters in the eye and tell them you resign. I will turn over, yield my time to you,” Ramaswamy said.

The entrepreneur responded to the reports of McDaniel's possible departure on social media, writing: "Better late than never. No more losing." 

But Trump himself has publicly and privately backed McDaniel, who is Utah Sen. Mitt Romney's niece. Trump first tapped her to lead the committee in 2017.

McDaniel is in the midst of her fourth two-year term. Under the direction of the party's presidential nominee, whoever serves as chair will direct the sprawling nationwide infrastructure designed to elect a Republican president while serving as a chief party fundraiser.

With decisive victories in the first two primary contests, Trump is fast approaching a third consecutive presidential nomination.

McDaniel has survived in Trump's orbit for the last seven years in part by being willing to confront him directly, albeit always in private, about difficult issues. Trump and McDaniel met privately this week at the former president's Florida estate amid rising tensions between the GOP establishment and leaders of Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement.

Trump suggested in an interview aired Sunday morning that McDaniel would leave her job soon.

"I think she did great when she ran Michigan for me. I think she did OK, initially, in the RNC. I would say right now, there'll probably be some changes made," Trump said on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures."

Just one year ago, McDaniel won a new term in a campaign that featured the same intra-party divisions. But the forces within Trump's MAGA movement who failed to defeat her then only grew more emboldened as Trump's grip on the 2024 Republican nomination grew tighter in recent months.

Her critics seized on recent campaign finance disclosures that showed the RNC had just $8 million in the bank and $1 million in debt.

"With what the mission of the RNC is, I think she's done a good job," said Iowa RNC member Steve Scheffler, who noted national party fundraising typically falls behind individual campaign spending during competitive primaries. "But whatever Trump decides to do, I'll be supportive of that."

The Democratic National Committee responded to the reports of McDaniel's possible ouster, calling her tenure at the helm of the RNC a "complete disaster."

"Ronna McDaniel is reportedly the latest American to lose their job under Donald Trump," DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said in a statement. "McDaniel’s tenure as RNC chair was a complete disaster and turned the party into a financial garbage fire at a time when they could literally least afford it – but with Trump now pushing to replace his MAGA loyalist with an election denying conspiracy theorist, it’s clear that the RNC’s deep and growing problems aren’t getting better any time soon."