Two of President Donald Trump's closest political aides are facing a growing backlash after reports that they used their ties to the president to land paid consulting work for a pro-Russian government ahead of a Balkan election — and Trump now says he wants nothing to do with it.

Top Trump staffer and ally Chris LaCivita and James Blair drew attention this week after it was discovered that they had leveraged their relationship with the president to secure paid consulting work for a pro-Russian government in a Balkan election, Bloomberg reported.

According to The New York Times, the two men traveled to Republika Srpska, a self-governing part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the two entities that make up the country, where they consulted on voting issues ahead of Sunday's election for the nationalist party. The Washington law firm arranged the consulting contract, which paid them several hundred thousand dollars each. The episode has cast a rare public light on a lucrative sideline of Trump-world: paid consulting for foreign governments and parties — work that, in Washington, can fall under the Foreign Agents Registration Act's registration and disclosure requirements when an operative acts on behalf of a foreign principal.

On Truth Social, Trump claimed he knew nothing about the arrangement and said he would fire the two men "immediately" if there is a conflict. "They do not for me, other than as outside consultants," Trump wrote. The declaration left open the question now hanging over Trump's political operation: what, exactly, would count as a conflict, and whether the "immediately" pledge gets tested.

The disclosures were all the more striking given how central both men remain to Trump's political machine. Blair left his White House job in May and began working on a primary campaign against Indiana Republicans who refused to follow Trump's order to redraw the state's congressional lines. Republicans feared that redrawing the map would spread Democratic voters across more districts, making additional GOP seats more competitive — the same strategy the party deployed in Texas. Axios reported this week that the tactic, crafted by Blair, has backfired: of the 13 seats Republicans hoped to gain, they could still net five.

A CNN reporter has alleged that Blair, who still runs the pro-Trump super PAC known as MAGA Inc., essentially runs the entire Trump political operation outside of the White House — while he and LaCivita simultaneously make millions abroad.

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Puck and Politico reporters told host John Berman on Thursday that Trump's statement was "remarkable."

"I think it really sent shockwaves through Washington. ... The president has thanked them essentially for resurrecting his political career and ... running the campaign that brought him back to power in 2024," said Politico "Playbook" co-author Will Steakin, noting that just a few months ago Trump wrote on Truth Social that Blair is "one of the most talented operatives he's ever met."

"Playbook" reported Thursday morning that Trump is furious about how the 2026 midterms have turned out and is searching for someone to blame. Steakin called it a story "as old as time" that Trump will "look at who's actually running the political operation to blame. And I wonder if that's what's happening here."

Puck's chief Washington correspondent, Leigh Ann Caldwell, said one of the things the president hates most is when "other people make money on the president's name. He can make all the money he wants, but he doesn't like other people to make money on his name. And that's exactly what this story was." It had, she said, "obviously irked the president."

"This has opened the floodgates. The knives are now fully out for these two," a person close to the White House told Politico, describing a growing backlash against the two men.

The episode is the latest example of allies monetizing their ties to the president. The Times previously revealed that the Trump consultants' firm collected $1.6 million from Albania's opposition to help former leader Sali Berisha. At the same time, the Albanian government has faced immense opposition to a luxury resort that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner want to build on an island. Taken together with the Republika Srpska contract, the Balkans now stand out as a recurring venue for Trump-linked consulting work.

Others who have used their relationship with Trump to score big profits include former lawyer Michael Cohen, Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard, Corey Lewandowski and Barry Bennett — and now, if reports are accurate, Kimberly Guilfoyle.

How Trump follows through on his firing threat — and how Blair and LaCivita, with Blair still running the flagship pro-Trump super PAC, respond — now frames the next chapter of a story that, per those close to the White House, has already opened the floodgates.