When Fox News called the presidential election for Donald J. Trump early Wednesday morning, guests at a private party at a cigar lounge in Palm Beach, Fla., began congratulating the lobbyist who hosted the event.
“Two hundred million a year in revenue!” one guest proclaimed, predicting a windfall for the lobbyist, Robert Stryk, in a forthcoming Trump administration.
The prediction seemed fanciful — Mr. Stryk’s small firm averaged about $4.8 million a year in lobbying fees after bursting onto the scene early in the first Trump administration — but it reflected a gleefulness about a sudden surge in demand for lobbyists with ties to Mr. Trump’s orbit.
In corporate boardrooms and foreign capitals, there was a scramble on Wednesday to sign lobbyists who could help navigate an incoming administration viewed with uncertainty and concern. Even after his first presidential term ended four years ago, Mr. Trump remained something of an enigma to the deep-pocketed interests whose fates depend on staying in Washington’s good graces, or at least out of its cross hairs.
They wanted help and were willing to pay for it.
Companies and foreign countries have long relied on lobbyists to guide them through the shifts in power on Capitol Hill or the White House. But since Mr. Trump first upended global politics in 2016, he has continued to confound establishment gatekeepers on K Street, the Washington boulevard that was traditionally home to many lobbying firms. They largely kept their distance from him for fear of alienating blue-chip clients who worried about brand damage from being associated with his inflammatory rhetoric.
Mr. Trump’s team, in turn, at times tried to restrict access for lobbyists who either opposed him or stayed on the sidelines, as well as for those seen as profiteering off their connections to him. It has led to a delicate dance in which a relatively small group of lobbyists have sought to demonstrate their value to him — including by raising money for his cash-strapped campaigns — and to cautious clients, without running afoul of the sensitivities of either.
In an ironic twist for a politician who first ran on a pledge to “drain the swamp” of Washington special interests, Mr. Trump’s election is expected to be very lucrative for lobbyists who have struck that balance.
Near the top of that list is Brian Ballard, who was a leading fund-raiser for Mr. Trump, helping to bring in more than $50 million for committees supporting the campaign, according to a person familiar with Republican fund-raising who was not authorized to speak on the matter. He also donated more than $250,000 of his own money.
Mr. Ballard had a thriving lobbying practice in Florida, where he represented Mr. Trump’s company, but had never lobbied in Washington before opening an office after Mr. Trump’s election in 2016.
He quickly became a go-to for major corporations facing scrutiny from the Trump administration and Congress, like Amazon for its competitive practices and Boeing for its safety record, and foreign governments like Qatar and Turkey. His firm raked in tens of millions of dollars in federal lobbying fees during Mr. Trump’s first term, while hiring an army of lobbyists from both parties and opening offices in California and Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday, Mr. Ballard’s firm posted a statement on social media congratulating Mr. Trump, saying that “we pray that all Americans will unite together in support of our President-elect.” That evening, the lobbyist was seen at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, where he is a member.
Another go-to lobbyist in Trump world, Jeff Miller, donated more than $100,000 to committees supporting Mr. Trump and raised millions more, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Mr. Miller, who helped clients try to secure support from Mr. Trump’s first administration, was seen on election night at Mar-a-Lago, where Mr. Trump hosted an event for his top supporters.
“K Street lobbyists tend to be relatively short-armed when it comes to donations, particularly when it comes to Trump, and that is still a relatively small world,” said David Tamasi, a veteran Washington lobbyist. Mr. Tamasi raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Mr. Trump’s campaigns in 2016 and 2020, and he donated $15,000 to committees supporting Mr. Trump this time around.
Mr. Tamasi’s firm, Chartwell Strategy Group — which represents the Republic of Georgia, the blacklisted Israeli spyware maker NSO Group and Hyundai Motor Company, among other clients — has been preparing for a possible Trump win for months. It has briefed clients about what to expect from a second Trump administration. And it has met with prospective clients who indicated that, if Mr. Trump won, they would “seek our help navigating a potential Trump administration,” Mr. Tamasi said.
His phone has been ringing frequently since election night, Mr. Tamasi said, adding that “what is unnerving for C.E.O.s and international folks is that things happen quickly” under Mr. Trump.
Just as lobbyists with ties to Mr. Trump’s team are planning for a surge, a decline might be in store for those whose business surged under President Biden, such as Jeff Ricchetti, the brother of the White House counselor Steve Ricchetti.
It is a cycle that repeats itself with each change in power, though Mr. Trump’s staggered stints in the White House created a new twist.
Businesses and foreign interests have already been paying for insight from former officials on Mr. Trump’s previous campaigns and first administration who have joined lobbying or advisory firms, or started their own.
More are expected to make the jump from Mr. Trump’s victorious campaign, which had its own high-level connection to the influence industry. It was led partly by Susie Wiles, who retained a senior position with the lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs during the campaign, according to a person familiar with the firm, and was a registered lobbyist for a tobacco company through at least earlier this year.
“My phone has started to ring from people with Trump backgrounds on the campaign looking to go to K Street,” said Ivan Adler, a recruiter who specializes in finding influence industry jobs for former political and government officials. “The Trump people will have their day. They’re the new ‘it’ girl.”
Ja’Ron Smith, a former Trump administration official who is a partner at the corporate lobbying firm CGCN, had joined other firm partners in warning clients in the weeks before the election to expect a realignment of traditional race and class dynamics.
K Street “seems to have purposely ignored” those shifts, said Sam Geduldig, the firm’s managing partner, who donated more than $11,000 to Mr. Trump’s committees. “We were not surprised by the result.”
One Trump-linked lobbyist began receiving texts from clients on election night as it became clear that Mr. Trump was going to win, offering to increase retainer fees, according to a person familiar with the communications.
Other Republican lobbyists were optimistic that the incoming administration would make it easier to help business clients.
“It releases a lot of the pressure going forward,” said Tripp Baird, the founder of the small lobbying firm Off Hill Strategies, which represents tech companies, defense contractors and retail businesses, among others. “They’re not on the menu at the moment.”
Mr. Stryk’s firm, which specializes in helping foreign clients facing sanctions and other scrutiny from the international community, had seen its lobbying revenues decline since the end of the Trump administration. He said he had received inquiries since the election from several foreign leaders, characterizing the jockeying among firms as “a free-for-all right now.”
As Mr. Stryk’s election night party at the cigar lounge wound down, he thanked his guests for coming and declared it “a great night for American democracy, and a great night for capitalism.”
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