Woody Johnson is still on the Trump Train.
Billionaire and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson is part of a very small group within former President Donald Trump’s inner circle: Wealthy supporters who are willing to invest their own personal capital to convince Republican megadonors to donate to Trump’s presidential campaign.
Not only is Johnson backing Trump himself, he is also doing something even more important: Lobbying members of the unofficial Republican billionaire’s club to come back into Trump’s fold, said several of Johnson’s allies who were granted anonymity in order to relay private conversations.
“The sales pitch from team Johnson has been ‘it’s going to be Trump based on the polling. Are you just not going to get on the train as Trump heads to be the nominee?’” a Republican fundraiser familiar with the engagement told CNBC.
Johnson has had and plans to maintain a hands-on role in Trump’s fundraising efforts, according to the report. And people close to the former ambassador to the United Kingdom believe Johnson would accept a job in Trump’s administration if the former commander-in-chief gets the GOP nominee and defeats President Joe Biden in 2024.
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None of this is terribly surprising. It was clear Johnson was still aligned with Trump last year when the whole Robert Saleh phone call thing happened after the Jets’ miraculous rally to beat the Browns. And Johnson had been spotted elsewhere with Trump since then. But then again, that was before Trump got indicted four times.
Anyway, if Trump wins and Johnson goes back to London or becomes Secretary of Defense or whatever, his brother Christopher will presumably take the reigns again. Or maybe those eternal Jets sale whispers will finally come true. Who knows.
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.