Republican National Committee Chairman Whatley vows to be ‘tip of the spear’ to protect Trump after re-election victory

The members of the Republican National CommitteeIn a vote that was never in doubt, he re-elected Chairman Michael Whatley on Friday to continue leading the party’s national committee.

“This organization has to be the tip of the spear. And as your president, I promise that this organization will be the tip of the spear to protect Donald Trump,” Whatley said, while speaking after the unanimous voice vote at the RNC’s annual meeting . meeting, which was held this year in the nation’s capital ahead of Monday’s inauguration of President-elect Trump.

Whatley, a longtime Trump ally and a major supporter of Trump’s election integrity efforts who served as general counsel of the Republican National Committee and chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, was appointed by Trump last March as chairman when The former president won the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Whatley succeeded Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, whom Trump no longer supported.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the RNC’s winter meeting, Whatley says his job heading into the 2025 elections and the 2026 midterms is simple.

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“It’s really critical for us to make sure that Trump voters become Republican voters,” Whatley told Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the RNC’s winter meeting, which is being held in the nation’s capital.

Republicans won important victories in the November elections, with President-elect Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris will take back the White House, the GOP will take control of the Senate from Democrats and maintain their slim majority in the House.

Whatley, who was interviewed Thursday on the eve of the Republican National Committee chair’s formal vote, said the GOP needs to “build on those gains” made in the 2024 elections.

“We are going to return to the pillars we had during this electoral cycle, which is to get out the vote and protect the ballot,” Whatley emphasized.

The chairman of the Republican National Committee highlighted “the lessons we learned” in the 2024 cycle “about going after low propensity voters, about making sure we reach all voters and attract new communities,” which he said helped Republicans make “historic gains among African American voters, among Asian American voters , among Hispanic voters, young voters and women voters.

Speaking a couple of days before the president-elect’s inauguration, Whatley emphasized that once Trump is in the White House, “we’ll go right back to the Republican National Convention. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.” We have a couple of gubernatorial races… that we are going to be working on in the 25th.”

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But Whatley said that “everything is focused on the 26th,” when the party will defend its majorities in the House and Senate, “because that is going to determine, from an agenda perspective, whether we have two years or four to work with.” And the United States needs us to have a four-year agenda.”

“What we’re going to do is make sure we register voters,” Whatley said. “We’re going to be… communicating with the people we need to assist.”

Referring to the 2024 presidential election, he said “it’s the same fundamentals.”

But he noted that “it’s not just seven battleground states” and that the 2026 election “will definitely be a very intense midterm election cycle.”

While Democrats would disagree, Whatley described today’s Republican Party as “a party of common sense…this is a party that is going to fight for every American family and every American community.”

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Referring to former Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump nominated to serve in his second administration’s Cabinet, Whatley touted “the fact that we have two former Democratic presidential candidates who are going to serve in the president’s cabinet. That shows that this is a common sense agenda, a common sense team, with which we are going to move forward.

In December, Trump asked Whatley to continue through the 2026 cycle as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

“I think we’ll be able to talk when we need to,” Whatley said when asked if his lines of communication with Trump will be limited now that the president-elect returns to the White House. “We’re going to support the president and his agenda. That doesn’t change. What does change is his ability from the White House to actually implement the agenda that he’s been campaigning for.”

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The winter meeting included co-chair Lara Trump’s final RNC appearance. The president-elect’s daughter-in-law will leave office.

He stressed that it is crucial for the RNC to take advantage of “the opportunity voters have given us” to “continue to expand the Republican brand.”

The elder Trump is term-limited and will not be able to run again in 2028. Vice President-Elect, Senator JD Vance He will likely be considered the favorite for the 2028 Republican nomination.

Whatley reiterated what he told Fox News Digital in December, that the RNC will remain neutral in the upcoming GOP nomination race and that the party “has an incredible bench.”

“You think about the talent on the Republican side of the aisle right now, our governors, our senators, our members of Congress, the people who are going to serve in this administration. I love the fact that the Republican Party is going to be prepared to have a fantastic candidate for the 28th,” he highlighted.

Unlike the Democratic National Committee, which in the 2024 cycle disrupted the traditional presidential nomination calendar, The RNC made no major changes to its primary lineup and kept the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary as its first two contests.

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When asked about the 2028 schedule, Whatley reiterated to Fox News that “I haven’t had any conversations with anyone who wants to change the schedule, so we’ll wait and see what it looks like as we move forward. We’re at the RNC Meetings this week and have several conversations with people, but that’s not a big boost.

“I don’t think changing the calendar really helped Democrats at all,” Whatley argued. “And I think it’s going to be critical to make sure that we’re working on our system like we always have.”