On Wednesday, October 7, Donald Trump threatened to fire two of his White House advisors after The New York Times revealed they were advising a pro-Russia political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina in an upcoming election.
He was associated with former Florida House Speaker, Richard Corcoran and attracted the attention of Ron DeSantis. He has since been associated with the Trump campaign, serving as its director. Chris LaCivita, meanwhile, is a US Marine veteran who was wounded during the Gulf War. He started as a Republican strategist in Virginia with former US Senator George Allen. Subsequently, he joined the Republican Senatorial Committee and served there for several years.
However, the 80-year-old said that he was not aware of their association with Republika Srpska, adding that he will ask and will fire them “if there is a conflict. He founded the consulting firm Rapid Loop Consulting in 2013 and worked for several years in Florida state politics. He served as the Chief of Staff for Ron DeSantis before joining Trump’s 2020 campaign. After Trump took office, he briefly became the White House Deputy Chief of Staff but resigned in April 2026 to take over Trump’s midterm campaign.
The report said James Blair and Chris LaCivita were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to advise the Republika Srpska government. Trump on Wednesday afternoon posted on Truth Social that James Blair and Chris LaCivita “do not work” for him, “except as outside consultants. He said that they have “numerous” other clients and that they themselves must answer about it. James Blair is a Republican from Florida, according to the American Presidency Project. He sold Rapid Loop Consulting after joining Trump’s White House team, according to ProPublica.
The report cited four sources from Republika Srpska who confirmed Blair and LaCivita were in the region earlier this week to advise the pro-Russian government of Republika Srpska ahead of an upcoming election there on Sunday.
