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Drain the Swamp? MAGA Lobbyists Say They’re ‘Drinking from a Fire Hose.’
(Illustration by The Free Press)
Once upon a time, Donald Trump promised to clean up Washington. But for the swampiest industry of all, business is booming.
By Gabe Kaminsky
05.05.25 — U.S. Politics
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Since 2016, Donald Trump has promised his supporters that he will “drain the swamp”—the president’s catchall pledge to end corruption in Washington. But as his second administration gets busy remaking the federal government, business is good for one of D.C.’s most lucrative—and “swampiest”—lines of work: lobbying. And for those lobbyists enmeshed in MAGA World, business has never been better.

One of the biggest winners is Jeff Miller, a veteran Republican lobbyist who has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in donations for Trump and the GOP. His phone has been ringing off the hook ever since election night, which he spent in the grand ballroom of Mar-a-Lago, a few tables away from the incoming president, along with J.D. Vance and Elon Musk.

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Gabe Kaminsky
Gabe Kaminsky is an investigative reporter for The Free Press. He covers the intersection of money, politics, and influence in Washington, D.C., where he is based. He grew up outside Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh.
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