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| Stephanie Grisham |
Sign her up….Stephanie Grisham, who served as communications director and press secretary in Donald Trump’s White House, has joined the “Republicans for Harris” group that launched Aug. 4.
Grisham quit the White House press secretary post after Trump triggered the Jan. 5 riot at the Capitol Hill.
In her statement endorsing Harris, Grisham said: “I might not agree with Vice President Kamala Harris on everything, but I know that she will fight for our freedom, protect our democracy and represent America with honor and dignity on the world stage.”
Trump failed on each account.
Though Grisham faced criticism for not holding a single news conference during her time with Trump, she would make a great spokesperson for Harris’s new organization.
After all, Grisham was in the room when it happened.
Readying for the Trump Restoration… Ballard Partners, the pride of Tallahassee, opened an office in Riyadh on July 24 apparently in anticipation of Trump’s restoration.
Brian Ballard, who was Trump’s Florida campaign fundraiser, says he set up shop in Riyadh after meeting with government officials during his recent trip to the region.
He is confident of the success of Saudi Vision 2030, which launched in 2016 as crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s massive redevelopment project.
Susie Wiles, a top advisor to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, headed Ballard’s Tallahassee office for a decade and ran Trump’s Florida campaign in 2016. Exiting Ballard in 2019, she became CEO of Trump’s Save America PAC in 2021.
Jasmine Zaki, who was senior counsel at Bechtel, leads Ballard’s Riyadh office and its MENA practice.
Saudi Arabia is projected to do very well, in the event of Trump’s re-election.
The country ranked last in the “Trump Risk Index" analysis of America’s top 70 trading partners, compiled by a research arm of The Economist Group.
‘Saudi Arabia’s trade links have diminished in importance, as the US has emerged as an energy exporter in its own right, and it spends heavily on defense (including on US arms), according to the study. Trump loves those weapons deals.
The report also notes that Saudi ties with the US were much warmer under Trump than with Joe Biden’s administration.
Trump’s first foreign trip as US president was to Saudi Arabia, where he participated in the creepy glowing orb photo-op with King Salman and Egypt president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The trio placed their hands on the radiant white sphere and kept them there for about two minutes. How weird!
Ivanka Trump and hubby Jarad Kushner, whose Affinity Partners private equity firm received a $2B investment from the Saudis six months after Trump left the White House, looked on at the ceremony.
Ballard Partners hopes for its own gusher of business from Saudi Arabia.
Understatement of the year. Stagwell Inc. CEO Mark Penn said in his company’s August 1 earnings release that he anticipates “an active political season that has been energized even further by recent developments.”
Really? Are you referring to Biden’s bombshell decision to forgo re-election and anoint Vice President Harris as his successor?” Could it be the selection of JD Vance as the Republican VP candidate, and his ensuing evisceration. Harris, who has quickly reversed Biden’s lousy polling numbers vis-a-vis Trump, is in line for a further momentum boost at the Democratic National Convention later this month. Could that be it?
Stagwell reported a 6.3 percent spurt in Q2 revenues to $649.3M and a loss of $3M.
After registering 1.2 percent organic growth in Q2, Penn is shooting for full-year organic growth between five and seven percent.
Due to those “recent developments,” Penn might want to upgrade those full-year organic growth numbers.
Stagwell owns SKDK, Sloane & Co., Allison, KWT Global and Hunter.
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