Trump campaign turmoil continues
Businessman Donald Trump's big victory last night overshadowed reports of continuing turmoil and discord in his campaign team. Here's what NBC News reported regarding the news of a shake-up of the campaign's senior leadership:
Trump Campaign Undergoes Major Reorganization Amid Delegate Fight
Donald Trump's campaign is in the midst of a massive restructuring and re-strategizing effort aimed at shoring up Trump's delegate lead against a furious challenge by his main rival for the nomination, Sen. Ted Cruz, several sources inside the campaign tell NBC News. The sources were not authorized to discuss the strategic changes inside the campaign, so were granted anonymity to do so.
Trump won big in his home state of New York Tuesday and polls suggest he will go on to perform well in several northeastern primaries next week. But after a series of primary and caucus losses to Cruz and demonstrable evidence of the Cruz campaign's mastery of the delegate game ahead of a likely contested convention, the Trump organization has recast staff roles and committed a significant new influx of funds.
Paul Manafort, whom the campaign recently brought in to manage Trump's convention operations, has stepped into a larger leadership role in the campaign and has been given a $20 million budget to spend in coming primary states, a senior campaign source told NBC News. A meeting took place last Saturday in New York to lay out the new staffing structure, the source confirmed. The meeting was first reported by Politico.
The shuffling of responsibilities will likely be a welcome move to supporters of Trump, or at least those who recognized that his success among voters was not being matched with success in the election and selection of delegates to the Republican National Convention. But this reorganization could be too late - Trump is still likely to have a delegate lead going into the convention, but the success his rivals have had organizing at the county, district, and and state convention levels may lead to multiple ballots at the national convention, where his rivals appear to have the upper hand.