lobbying k-street trump revolving-door fara foreign-government tech defense pharma energy crypto
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Who They Are
Ballard Partners is the defining lobbying firm of the Trump era — founded in 1998 by Brian D. Ballard in Tallahassee, Florida, and catapulted to the #1 spot in the country by the sheer premium corporations are willing to pay for proximity to Donald Trump. The firm opened a Washington DC office in 2017 immediately following Trump’s first election victory, and by 2025 it had become the highest-grossing lobbying firm in the United States, pulling in $88.12 million from 350 clients in a single year — a 355% increase over its $19.34 million in 2024.
The central proposition of Ballard Partners is not expertise or legislative strategy — it’s access. Brian Ballard has been a major Trump fundraiser and loyalist since at least 2015, which means any company that hires Ballard is purchasing a direct line to Trump’s personal network. When Trump wins, Ballard wins. The firm employs two people who became the two most powerful positions in Trump’s White House: Pam Bondi (Attorney General) and Susie Wiles (Chief of Staff) both worked at Ballard before joining the administration. This is not coincidental. It is the business model.
The firm operates from about a dozen offices across the US and internationally, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Washington DC, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia.
Money
Ballard’s 2025 revenue of $88.12M represents what the market believes access to Trump is worth. In 2024 (Biden’s final year), Ballard billed $19.34M. In 2025 (Trump’s first full year back), that jumped to $88.12M — a 355% increase. The 200+ new clients who signed on after the 2024 election were not buying lobbying expertise. They were buying insurance against a presidential administration that openly rewards loyalty and punishes perceived enemies.
Client List
2025 top clients by sector (OpenSecrets data):
Tech / Crypto / AI
- ByteDance (TikTok) — Hired Ballard in 2024 as Congress moved to ban TikTok. Lobbied by Stephen Klopp and Michael LaRosa.
- AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) — $400,000 (2025)
- Palantir Technologies — Lobbied by Jeff B. Miller. Defense AI surveillance firm.
- TP-Link Systems — Chinese-owned router manufacturer under national security scrutiny
- Ripple — Crypto payments firm; lobbied amid crypto deregulation push
- Payward Inc (Kraken) — Crypto exchange; major beneficiary of crypto-friendly Trump admin
- Blockchain US — Crypto industry group; lobbied by Stephen Klopp and Thomas Boodry
- Shein Group — Chinese fast fashion firm; hired Ballard to fight tariffs and duty loopholes
- Lenovo Group — Chinese tech firm; lobbied by Thomas Boodry and Sylvester Lukis
Defense / Aerospace
- L3Harris Technologies — Major defense electronics contractor
- Rolls-Royce North America — Defense engines/propulsion; lobbied by multiple Ballard lobbyists including Jeff B. Miller
- Leonardo DRS — Defense electronics subsidiary of Italy’s Leonardo SpA
- Booz Allen Hamilton — Government IT/defense contractor
- Parsons Government Services — Defense/infrastructure contractor
Healthcare / Pharma
- Merck, Sharp & Dohme — Top pharma company; lobbied by Brian Ballard and multiple others
- Novo Nordisk — Danish pharma (Ozempic maker); $large billing
- Alkermes — Addiction treatment pharma; lobbied by Alison Anway
- Novavax — COVID vaccine maker navigating federal contracts
- UnitedHealth Group — Largest health insurer in the US; lobbied by multiple Ballard lobbyists
Energy
- NextEra Energy — Florida-based utility/renewable energy giant
- Chevron Corp — Major oil company; lobbied by multiple Ballard lobbyists
- TotalEnergies (Mozambique Area 1) — LNG project lobbying
- Bloom Energy — Clean energy/fuel cells
- Terra Solar US — Solar energy
Finance
- JPMorgan Chase & Co — Largest US bank; lobbied by Grace Colvin, Patrick Kilcur, Sylvester Lukis
- New York Stock Exchange — Lobbied by multiple Ballard lobbyists
- Moore Capital Management — Hedge fund
- Fidelity National Financial — Insurance/title company
Private Prisons / Carceral
- GEO Group / Paragon Systems (via Securitas AB) — Private prison and detention firm. GEO Group has been a Ballard client. Under Trump’s second term, GEO Group secured major contracts for mass deportation detention. Lobbied by Stephen Klopp.
Foreign Governments (FARA registrations)
- Government of Qatar — Pam Bondi registered as foreign agent, lobbied at $115K/month
- Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria — Susie Wiles registered as foreign agent (2019)
- Government of Japan — FARA registration
- Ministry of Communication and Medias of the Democratic Republic of Congo — FARA registration
- Government of Kosovo — FARA registration
- Government of Turkey / Halkbank — FARA registration
- Government of Guatemala — FARA registration
- Government of the Dominican Republic — FARA registration
- Government of Mali — FARA registration
- Government of Liberia — FARA registration
- Government of Zimbabwe — FARA registration
- Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation — FARA registration
- Saudi Arabia — Active FARA registration
- Libyan Armed Forces (Khalifa Haftar) — $2 million FARA contract signed March 2026 for government relations, strategic consulting, and engagement with US executive branch officials. Six-month auto-renewing term. Team: Brian Ballard, Robert Wexler, Jasmine Zaki (MENA practice chief), Micah Ketchel (critical minerals chair), Syl Lukis. Haftar commands the Libyan National Army, a coalition of militias controlling eastern Libya and its oilfields; the UN recognizes the rival Tripoli-based Government of National Unity as the legitimate government. Human rights groups have accused Haftar’s forces of brutality and atrocities.
The Revolving Door
37 registered lobbyists in 2025. 11 (29.7%) carry revolving door profiles. 1 former member of Congress.
| Name | Former Position | Lobbies For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pam Bondi | Florida AG (2011–2019) | Qatar, GEO Group, special interests | Registered as FARA foreign agent for Qatar at $115K/month. Became Trump’s AG Jan 2025. |
| Susie Wiles | Trump 2024 campaign manager | Nigeria’s PDP | Registered as FARA foreign agent for Nigeria’s Peoples Democratic Party (2019). Became Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Jan 2025. |
| Jeff B. Miller | U.S. Rep. FL-01 (2001–2017); Chair, House Veterans Affairs Committee | Palantir, Rolls-Royce, Novavax, Safe Pro Group, UnitedHealth, many others | Former Republican House veteran who now lobbies on defense and healthcare |
| Robert Wexler | U.S. Rep. FL-19 (1997–2010); Democrat | Foreign governments, finance | Bipartisan cover; Democratic former congressman provides access to both sides |
| Leonard Curry | Mayor of Jacksonville, FL (2015–2023) | Hanwha (S. Korean defense firm), Roger Ver, UnitedHealth Group | Florida Republican political network hire |
| Thomas Boodry | Senate/government background | Korea Zinc, Lenovo, NYSE, Novo Nordisk, NTT Data Federal | Revolving door profile |
| Stephen Klopp | Government background | ByteDance/TikTok, Securitas/Paragon Systems, Florida Sheriffs Assn, Major County Sheriffs | Tech + carceral hybrid client set |
| Dan McFaul | Government background | Broad portfolio: Amazon, ByteDance, Chevron, Comcast, L3Harris, NextEra, Rolls-Royce, UnitedHealth | One of the busiest lobbyists in the firm |
| Jeff B. Miller | Congress | See above | |
| Adrian Lukis | Government background | Advance Financial, JPMorgan, Mercedes-Benz, Novavax, US Virgin Islands | Finance and pharma-focused |
| Joe Buscaino | LA City Councilmember, former LAPD officer | AltaMed Health Services, Port of Long Beach, Int’l Olympic Committee | Florida-to-West Coast Democratic access play |
Contradiction
Susie Wiles — who ran Trump’s “America First” campaign — worked as a registered foreign agent for a Nigerian political party while at Ballard Partners. Pam Bondi — Trump’s AG responsible for enforcing FARA — worked as a registered foreign agent for Qatar at $115,000 per month. Bondi’s first act as AG was to restrict FARA enforcement to cases resembling “traditional espionage.” In one policy memo, the nation’s top law enforcement officer reduced the legal risk for every foreign lobbying client her former employer still represents.
What They Deliver
TikTok ban delay:
ByteDance hired Ballard in 2024 as Congress was finalizing legislation to force a sale or ban TikTok. After Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, he repeatedly delayed enforcement of the ban. As of mid-2025, TikTok was still operating in the US. ByteDance paid Ballard throughout this period. Correlation is not proof — but the outcome matches the client interest exactly.
Nippon Steel / U.S. Steel acquisition:
Biden blocked the Nippon Steel acquisition of U.S. Steel in January 2025, citing national security. Nippon Steel hired Ballard. By June 2025, the Trump administration approved the $15 billion deal. The reversal directly followed Ballard’s engagement.
GEO Group and mass deportation:
GEO Group (private prison/detention operator) has been a Ballard client. Under Trump’s second term, GEO Group secured expanded federal detention contracts as the mass deportation program scaled up. Ballard’s Stephen Klopp lobbied for Securitas/Paragon Systems (detention/security) while simultaneously lobbying for the Florida Sheriffs Association and Major County Sheriffs — the law enforcement network that feeds the deportation pipeline.
Crypto deregulation:
Ballard represents Ripple, Kraken (Payward), Blockchain US, and ByteDance — a concentrated crypto client stack. The Trump administration’s SEC dropped its case against Ripple, reversed Biden-era crypto enforcement, and moved toward a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Multiple Ballard crypto clients were direct beneficiaries of the regulatory pivot.
Libyan warlord contract (March 2026):
Ballard signed a $2 million FARA-registered contract with the General Command of the Libyan Armed Forces — the military apparatus controlled by Khalifa Haftar, an 82-year-old warlord whose forces have been accused of mass killings, forced disappearances, and attacks on civilians by the UN and human rights organizations. The team includes Brian Ballard personally, Democratic former Congressman Robert Wexler (providing bipartisan cover), and the firm’s MENA practice chief. The contract scope includes engagement with US executive branch officials — meaning Ballard is using its Trump access premium to promote a foreign military commander whom the UN does not recognize as Libya’s legitimate ruler. The deal was filed with FARA on March 13, 2026.
FARA enforcement rollback:
Bondi’s DOJ in 2025 directed prosecutors to deprioritize FARA enforcement unless conduct resembled “traditional espionage.” This directly reduced legal risk for Ballard Partners and every other firm with foreign government clients. Bondi made this decision as sitting AG while her former employer continued lobbying for a dozen-plus foreign governments. The March 2026 Haftar contract illustrates the downstream consequence: Ballard took on a foreign military client accused of atrocities, under a FARA enforcement regime that its own former employee softened.
Lobbying-to-Policy Timeline
| Date | Recipient/Target | Amount | Policy Return | Time Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | ByteDance/TikTok (Congress/White House) | $240,000 (2025) | TikTok ban repeatedly delayed after Trump inauguration; app remains operational | Ongoing |
| Jan 2025 | Nippon Steel (Commerce/National Security) | Undisclosed | Biden’s block reversed; $15B US Steel deal approved by Trump in June 2025 | ~6 months |
| 2025 | GEO Group/Paragon Systems (DHS/DOJ) | Active client | Mass deportation detention contract expansions; GEO Group described as “central” to deportation plan | Concurrent |
| 2025 | Ripple/Kraken/Blockchain US (SEC/Treasury) | Multiple clients | SEC dropped Ripple case; crypto-friendly regulatory agenda; strategic Bitcoin reserve EO | 0–3 months |
| Jan 2025 | Pam Bondi → AG | Employment → Cabinet | FARA enforcement memo restricted; direct benefit to all of Ballard’s foreign government clients | Immediate |
| 2019–2020 | Qatar (via Bondi, FARA) | $115K/month | Anti-human trafficking work; access preservation during Trump 1.0 | Concurrent |
| 2025 | TP-Link Systems (Commerce/FCC) | Active client | National security review of Chinese routers; Ballard lobbying to prevent ban | Ongoing |
| 2024–2025 | Shein (USTR/CBP) | Active client | De minimis tariff exemption under threat; Ballard lobbying to preserve duty-free import threshold | Ongoing |
| Mar 2026 | Libyan Armed Forces / Khalifa Haftar (State/WH) | $2M (6-month auto-renewing) | FARA contract for executive branch engagement on behalf of Libyan warlord; filed under softened FARA regime Bondi created | Immediate (Bondi FARA memo → Haftar contract < 14 months) |
Money
The Nippon Steel reversal is the cleanest case study. Biden blocked the deal January 3, 2025. Nippon Steel hired Ballard. Trump approved it by June. The $15 billion transaction was preserved in under 6 months. Even at $500K in lobbying fees, the ROI would be astronomical. This is what “access” lobbying actually means — not policy expertise, but the capacity to pick up the phone to someone who owes you.
The Bipartisan Model
Ballard is fundamentally a Trump-access shop, but the firm maintains structural bipartisan coverage:
Democratic access layer:
- Robert Wexler — Former Democratic Congressman (FL-19, 1997–2010). Provides Democratic Hill access and is active on foreign government and finance clients.
- Joe Buscaino — Former Democratic LA City Councilmember. Provides California and municipal government access.
- Michael LaRosa — Former White House Social Secretary under Biden; now lobbies for ByteDance, UnitedHealth, Harvard, among others.
Republican access core:
- Brian D. Ballard — Trump fundraiser, Florida Republican kingmaker
- Jeff B. Miller — Former Republican Chair of House Veterans Affairs Committee
- Leonard Curry — Former Republican Mayor of Jacksonville
- Hunter Morgen — Former Member of Congress (Republican)
2026 expansion:
- Rich Haselwood — Joined Ballard’s Washington DC office in March 2026 after a lengthy career at Reynolds American (R.J. Reynolds subsidiary), where he served as Senior Director of State Government Relations. Named one of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists in 2021 and 2024. His arrival expands Ballard’s consumer products/tobacco regulatory portfolio and adds a top-tier lobbyist who has navigated the intersection of corporate government relations and federal regulatory strategy for decades.
The bipartisan model serves a specific function: it allows Ballard to claim it can lobby regardless of which party controls Congress or agency leadership. But the core value proposition is pure Trump access, and the revenue spike from $19M to $88M in one year proves it.
Billing vs. Outcomes
| Client | Billing (2025) | Outcome | ROI Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| ByteDance/TikTok | $240,000 | App ban delayed; operational in US | Incalculable if US operations preserved |
| Nippon Steel | Undisclosed | $15B deal approved after Biden blocked it | Incalculable; deal preserved |
| GEO Group | Active | Mass detention contract expansions | Large federal contract pipeline |
| Ripple | Active | SEC case dropped; regulatory relief | ~$50B market cap recovery |
| Shein | Active | De minimis lobbying ongoing | $Billions in duty exemptions at stake |
| Qatar (Bondi/FARA) | $115K/month | Access preservation; relationship maintenance | Diplomatic + economic returns |
| TP-Link | Active | National security ban being litigated | US market access worth hundreds of millions |
Money
Ballard’s $88M in 2025 gross revenue represents 350 clients paying an average of ~$252K each. But the median client pays less — a handful of large corporate clients (ByteDance, Nippon Steel, UnitedHealth, JPMorgan, etc.) are driving the bulk of revenue. The small-dollar clients ($30–$80K range) are essentially buying name recognition and hope. The large-dollar clients are buying specific outcomes.
Class Analysis
Ballard Partners is what access-based lobbying looks like when stripped of its usual pretenses. Normal K Street operates on a fiction: that firms are hired for their policy expertise, their legislative strategy, their ability to navigate complex regulatory environments. Ballard doesn’t bother with the fiction. The firm is valuable because Brian Ballard is close to Donald Trump, and Donald Trump runs the federal government with explicit loyalty calculus.
The 355% revenue spike from 2024 to 2025 is the market’s verdict. Corporations did not suddenly discover that Ballard’s lobbying analysis was 4.5 times more valuable than it was in 2024. They discovered that their relationship with the sitting president had been priced in, and they needed to be in the room.
The Bondi-Wiles-to-Cabinet pipeline reveals the deeper structural logic. These are not cases where a government official went through the revolving door to lobby their former colleagues. The flow runs in reverse: a lobbying firm provided staging ground and income for two major Trump loyalists (Wiles managed his campaign, Bondi defended him at impeachment), and when Trump won, they moved from lobbying into the cabinet positions that determine policy. Ballard Partners seeded the administration with two of its most senior employees. Those employees are now making policy that directly affects Ballard’s clients.
This is not “revolving door” in the traditional sense. This is the deliberate construction of a loyalty pipeline: fundraise for Trump → employ Trump loyalists → wait for Trump to win → collect premium from corporations that need the loyalists → loyalists move into the White House and Justice Department → Ballard’s foreign government clients get softened enforcement.
The March 2026 Haftar contract closes the loop. Bondi’s DOJ softened FARA enforcement in 2025. Fourteen months later, her former employer signed a $2 million contract to represent a Libyan warlord accused of atrocities by the UN — filed under the very FARA regime Bondi weakened. The team includes Brian Ballard personally and Democratic former Congressman Robert Wexler, providing bipartisan cover for a client whose forces the international community considers illegitimate. The structural function is now complete: Ballard Partners doesn’t just convert political proximity into institutional leverage — it shapes the regulatory environment that governs its own business, then exploits the space it created.
The structural function: Ballard Partners is the firm that converts political proximity into institutional leverage. It is what happens when campaign finance and lobbying collapse into a single transactional system.
Sources
- OpenSecrets: Ballard Partners Lobbying Profile (Tier 1)
- OpenSecrets: Ballard Partners Lobbyists 2025 (Tier 1)
- OpenSecrets Foreign Lobby Watch: Ballard Partners FARA registrations (Tier 1)
- OpenSecrets News: Revolving door brings Trump-tied lobbying firm even closer to the White House (2019) (Tier 2)
- OpenSecrets News: The rise of Ballard Partners, now the top lobbying firm in the country (Aug 2025) (Tier 2)
- Read Sludge: Foreign Interests Are Paying Millions to a Trump-Linked Lobbying Firm (Feb 2026) (Tier 2)
- Read Sludge: Trump-Tied Ballard Partners Becomes the Highest-Paid Lobbying Firm in D.C. (Sep 2025) (Tier 2)
- ABC News: Lobbying firm with close ties to Trump is poised to profit from new administration (Dec 2024) (Tier 2)
- Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats: Pam Bondi’s Extensive Lobbying For Wealthy Special Interests And Foreign Government (Jan 2025) (Tier 1)
- Jacobin: Ballard Partners Is the Lobbyist King of the Trump Era (Aug 2025) (Tier 4 — partisan, verify claims independently)
- Wikipedia: Ballard Partners (Tier 3)
- Washington Post: Firm with ties to Trump officials signs deal to lobby for Libyan warlord (Mar 21, 2026) (Tier 2)
- O’Dwyer’s: Ballard Inks $2M Pact with Libyan Armed Forces (Mar 17, 2026) (Tier 3)
- Middle East Eye: US lobby firm secures $2m contract to whitewash image of Libya’s Haftar (Tier 2)
- FARA Filing: Ballard Partners — Libyan Armed Forces (received Mar 13, 2026) (Tier 1)
- STAT News: Pharma companies turn to Trump-connected firms for FDA lobbying (Feb 23, 2026) (Tier 2)
- OpenSecrets News: Pharma industry and Ballard Partners dominate the lobbying space in second quarter of 2025 (Tier 1)
- Florida Politics: Rich Haselwood joins Ballard Partners’ Washington office (Mar 2026) (Tier 3)
- OpenSecrets: Rich L. Haselwood Lobbyist Profile (Tier 1)
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