It was a Sunday morning in Las Vegas in December 2023 — after an evening of fights at UFC 296 — and Brian Jack marched into the Trump Worldwide Resort suite belonging to his boss, the previous and future president, with a message: He needed to run for Congress.
The seat for Georgia’s third Congressional District had opened up three days earlier and Jack — a Trump 2016 marketing campaign staffer, first-administration White Home political director and 2024 marketing campaign senior adviser — was able to make the leap from political operative to principal.
Trump promised Jack his “full support,” in Jack’s telling, however there was one situation: The pair agreed Jack would keep on the marketing campaign till Trump secured the Republican nomination. A March 8 submitting deadline loomed.
Tremendous Tuesday was March 5. Nikki Haley withdrew from the GOP major on March 6, cementing Trump’s nod, and Jack filed his candidacy for the state’s third Congressional District on March 7. On March 9, the staffer-turned-candidate appeared together with his longtime boss at a rally proper outdoors his district, the place the previous president publicly endorsed his aide for the seat Jack interned for 17 years earlier.
The timeline is an encapsulation of Jack’s relationship with Trump: a loyal, fixed and omnipresent determine who helped the president at each step of his topsy-turvy political profession.
Now the Georgia Republican is seeking to proceed that position from Capitol Hill.
Cheat sheet: 12 questions for Rep. Brian Jack
Jack — throughout a wide-ranging interview with The Hill in his Capitol workplace — mentioned there’s “no question” he nonetheless considers himself a part of the president’s staff, simply from the opposite finish of Pennsylvania Avenue.
“I think he, today, very much enjoys having somebody whose career was largely shaped by him in Congress with a vote in this institution,” Jack added.
The primary-year congressman is already rising within the GOP ranks. In his first months on Capitol Hill Jack, has been appointed deputy chair of the Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the place he’ll lead candidate recruitment; elected freshman consultant on the highly effective Home GOP Steering Committee, the place he helped safe plum committee assignments for numerous first-year lawmakers; and was chosen by the Speaker to serve on the important thing Home Guidelines Committee.
“Is this guy the biggest utility player? Oh, by far. But what’s more important is this guy has the brightest future,” mentioned former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who employed Jack to steer his political operation in 2021. “He may just be a freshman, but I think he’s probably one of the top five most important members in Congress because he knows the White House — not just the president — and the president has such respect for him.”
Trump is taking word. On the annual NRCC dinner earlier this month, the president praised Jack throughout his speech earlier than scores of lawmakers.
“Brian Jack, who was with me from Day 1 of my political career,” Trump informed the group. “He’s a fantastic guy and a great political leader, a great politician. … Great job, proud of you, Brian.”
The Trump relationship
When he determined to run for Congress, Jack — who on the time was certainly one of three senior advisers main Trump’s 2024 marketing campaign — gave up a possibility to be a high White Home official ought to Trump win one other time period.
However even with out a White Home title, Jack mentioned he nonetheless sees himself as a “very helpful political adviser” to Trump, a relationship that has been evident throughout his first few months in elected workplace.
In January, after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was reelected to the highest job on the primary poll following a whirlwind vote, Trump known as Jack to see how his endorsement of Johnson performed inside the convention, in accordance with a supply acquainted.
In March, Jack traveled to the White Home with the remainder of the first-term class to satisfy with Trump, throughout which the president requested his former aide to assist facilitate conversations between him and the brand new lawmakers within the Oval Workplace. Jack felt a way of déjà vu.
“It’s almost as if he saw me, Brian’s a staffer again, introducing me to people,” Jack mentioned.
Johnson, who additionally maintains an in depth relationship with Trump, known as Jack “one of my favorite people in the world” and mentioned his historical past with the president has been “a great value” on Capitol Hill.
Jack says he speaks with Trump “on average” as soon as per week and maintains an in depth relationship together with his staff — lots of whom labored hand-in-hand with him through the first-term, post-presidency period and 2024 marketing campaign — together with Susie Wiles, who additionally helped lead the marketing campaign earlier than changing into Trump’s White Home chief of employees.
“He’s like a baby brother to me, he’s like a son to the president,” Wiles mentioned. “He’s close to us, he understands us, he understands the president, and yet he’s committed to his new friends, his new colleagues in the House, makes him invaluable.”
“When something is really important, the president calls Brian. If he really needs something done, [the] president calls Brian,” she added.
Assembly the convention
Jack has additionally established a novel avenue cred amongst Home Republicans, particularly his first-term colleagues.
The freshman class elected Jack to function its consultant on the Steering Committee — which determines committee assignments for the convention — becoming a member of McCarthy and former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) in holding the coveted place. And he used the publish to present again to his colleagues: Practically a 3rd of the present freshmen landed on the Home’s 4 most influential panels — Methods and Means, Power and Commerce, Appropriations, and Monetary Companies — lending a uncommon efficiency to the novice group.
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), the president of the freshman class, mentioned Jack has been “a good sounding board for ideas and thoughts” for the first-term lawmakers.
“He’s a member that a lot of people look up to in a lot of different ways,” he added.
Even earlier than coming into Congress, Jack acquired to know a number of sitting and incoming members of Congress. He pointed to an initiative he coordinated for Trump after his presidency — having him endorse dozens of incumbents operating for reelection and planning conferences between Trump and the candidates so they may develop relationships forward of a possible return to the White Home.
“This gave many of my current colleagues today a chance to have a one-on-one audience with the former, now current, leader of the free world, and those relationships that were developed are very helpful to him right now in Congress,” Jack mentioned. “But likewise, for me, [it] gave me a chance to have a lot of visibility and to earn a lot of trust from senior members of the conference, because they had a chance to work with me in that capacity.”
Wiles known as Jack “the computer of Donald Trump’s endorsement record all this time.”
That endorsement effort seems to nonetheless be alive and effectively. Jack traveled with Johnson and NRCC Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) to the White Home on Monday for a 2 p.m. assembly. Lower than an hour later, the president fired off endorsements for 4 Home Republicans.
Management ambitions
At simply 37 years previous with a star-studded resume by Trump-era requirements, Jack is seen amongst many as somebody who may very well be a future member of Home GOP management — particularly on the NRCC, the place he oversees candidate recruitment.
And of all of the hats he wears, Jack — a self-proclaimed “political guy” — has gravitated towards that job, which he sees as “largely an extension” of his gigs with Trump.
“In years past during political meetings with House Republican leadership around candidates, I was the president’s aide in the room with a slide deck walking through races,” Jack mentioned. “And now, I’ll likely be a member of Congress, as the chair of the recruitment committee, in the exact same room, walking through races, just in a different role, which is a cool bookend to the entire experience.”
This time round, nonetheless, he’s heading into the trenches at an important second: Home Republicans are hoping to defy the historic pattern of the president’s social gathering dropping seats within the midterm elections and develop their razor-thin majority in November 2026.
The preelection jitters are already starting. Requested what his greatest fear is, Jack — whom McCarthy described as a “political encyclopedia” — pointed to attainable voter apathy.
“My biggest concern is that voters who were so enthusiastic about voting in 2024 don’t return in the same numbers in 2026,” Jack mentioned. “The best way for us to correct that potential attrition is to sell, sell, sell the agenda we’re going to pass over the next few months.”
But when Jack — a sports activities fanatic who fervently follows school basketball and roots for Georgia’s groups — is open about his considerations, he’s simply as assured in his capacity to beat the percentages.
“I also know that I’ve got a specialty,” Jack mentioned. “I’m a political guy, I understand politics, I understand candidates, I understand races. That’s a skill set that I want to deploy to help our conference out,” he mentioned.
“For me, this is the best place for me to be, as deputy chair of the NRCC in charge of candidate recruitment and as one of the principal points of contact at the White House,” he added.
NRCC Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) mentioned Jack’s political expertise has been “invaluable.”
“It’s like, take a five-, six-year veteran and put him in that role, but he happens to be a freshman,” the NRCC chair mentioned.
Whereas Jack was keen to speak about his present gigs, he was far much less chatty when it got here to discussing his aspirations, if any, to climb the Home management ladder.
“I don’t want to be coy. But candidly speaking, I’m extremely excited about being deputy chair of the NRCC, I want to see how we do, that’s really my commitment and focus,” he added. “And as it relates to the broader scope, to me, I — like any member — want to accrue seniority and have an opportunity to be in a better position to help people in my district.”
Pressed on if he has an curiosity in being NRCC chair, Jack left the door open.
“There’s no question that I’m interested in being one of President Trump’s political eyes and ears, and if Chairman Hudson and I are successful at growing the majority, I’d love to continue to serve in whatever capacity that is,” he mentioned.
Whereas Jack is sustaining a modest strategy, others are emphasizing the inventory they see in him. Gingrich — a fellow Georgian whom Jack mentioned he seems as much as — mentioned “the sky’s the limit” for the first-term congressman.
“I certainly don’t know anybody who has a broader range of contacts or a greater trust — certainly as a freshman, but just in general — when you get below the leadership,” Gingrich mentioned. “He’s a remarkable standout, and I think that is likely to grow because he works so hard and he thinks and he learns.”
