Insider revelation: 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 presidential 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 include BTC and ETH. In the early morning of May 8th, the famous American political media POLITICO gave the answer and broke the news of the inside story of this crypto reserve post, which involved Trump’s core circle of friends and a number of senior White House officials.

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 intercepted the President to lobby him, 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 cryptocurrency project mentioned in the text was actually backed by Ripple Labs, which is 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.” Sources 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’s return to Washington, Ballard has established himself as a top lobbyist in the political arena of Washington. 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 emphasize his decades-long relationship with Trump; Ballard has intermittently represented the Trump Organization for many years and has been a key fundraiser for Trump’s presidential campaigns.

As a lobbyist capable of “voicing” for Trump, Brian Ballard’s company has remarkably gained 130 new clients since the U.S. election last November, including business giants like Chevron, JPMorgan Chase, Palantir, Netflix, Bayer, United Airlines, and T-Mobile. In April this year, POLITICO’s parent company Axel Springer Group also hired Ballard’s company 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 White House’s current view of him.

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

According to three informed sources, following the cryptocurrency post incident, Ballard has been at least temporarily excluded from the inner circle of the White House, and White House staff have been instructed not to meet with him. However, five individuals closely associated with Trump indicated that the dissatisfaction with Ballard extends beyond this. Some White House officials believe that he is exploiting Trump’s name for profit, greatly exaggerating his connections with the president and Wiles, while in reality, these relationships are not as close as he claims.

Another close ally of Trump said, “A common practice that annoys Trump is making 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, this he knows very well. But the problem is, how could Ballard openly boast and self-promote?

The White House declined to comment.

In a statement, Ballard said that he and his company “are already used 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 relationships with White House officials, and also refuted claims that he has been marginalized.

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

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

Regarding the Truth Social incident, a colleague of Ballard stated that they never attempted to mislead the president on the matter of the letters.

But this situation seems to have caused some business troubles for Ballard. According to two insiders, some of Ballard’s clients have contacted other Trump allies in an attempt to meet with the president or his inner circle.

Others who are closer to the inner circle tend to be more outspoken.

“Ballard presents himself as a universal lobbyist who can easily access the Trump administration, but that is simply not the case,” one of the four informed sources pointed out.

New Business Boom

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 successes during Trump’s presidency. Last fall, TikTok hired the company, benefiting from Trump’s temporary commitment not to enforce the ban, and it is still operating in the U.S. BMW, another client of Ballard, will benefit along with 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 announcement related to cryptocurrencies, and its issued XRP token is also associated with this. Notably, the highest financial regulatory authority during the Trump administration has now withdrawn its appeal against a landmark enforcement case against the company. (PANews note: On May 9, news 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 the president’s “fundraising powerhouse.” As a strong fundraiser, he has served as the finance chairman for every Republican presidential candidate in Florida since John McCain’s campaign in 2008. He has raised tens of millions of dollars for Trump’s presidential campaign and the political action committee he supports, and he served as the finance vice chair for Trump’s 2016 inauguration committee.

Shortly after Trump was sworn in as president 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 newcomer who had taken over the White House. In his first year in Washington, he quickly accumulated many well-known 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, and although the Ballard Group has many lobbyists with Democratic backgrounds, it remains competitive against other established lobbying firms in Washington.

Ballard Partners’ office in Washington is the company’s first branch outside of Florida. Today, the company has established offices in nearly twelve cities across three continents. Last year, Ballard launched a series of strategic partnerships with various government affairs firms worldwide, with partners located 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 respects, Ballard has always had a discrepancy with the reputation of the top lobbyists of the Trump administration, which is closely related to his past entanglements with the president’s chief of staff. Many insiders of the Trump administration who admire Wiles believe that at the moment when Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis was trying to ruin Wiles’ career, Ballard pushed him out of his own company.

Wiles worked for many years at the Ballard Partners in Florida before resigning in 2019 due to health issues. At that 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 resignation had nothing to do with DeSantis.

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

“Susie puts the campaign first,” said a confidant 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 of Trump’s core circle members, despite their loyalty to the chief of staff, still maintain a skeptical attitude towards him.

“People won’t forget the grudges we’ve had,” 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 leave politics; any claims to the contrary 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 had previously faced public criticism from the President.

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

“Previously, he (Trump) had been avoiding her (Ballard employee), and later she kept pestering him, so in the end, he simply handed the matter over to an assistant to deal with,” said a person familiar with the situation.

According to three sources familiar with the matter, just minutes after the president’s announcement, White House cryptocurrency affairs chief David Sacks angrily called Wiles to complain. At that time, the White House was preparing to host a cryptocurrency summit in Washington the following week, and the president’s decision to specifically praise certain companies while neglecting others seemed quite inappropriate.

Wiles did not accompany the president that morning, and David Sacks began making calls to inquire about the situation. Shortly thereafter, White House officials realized that one of the clients mentioned in the Truth Social platform post was indeed Ballard’s, and that this tweet didn’t even mention Trump’s newly launched cryptocurrency company.

Trump subsequently 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 it.

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