Trump Adores Her, but His Allies Are Wary
Brooke Rollins is the relatively obscure strategist working on the plans for Trump's second term.
TroibNews 
In mid-August, following the Trump campaign's announcement of the long-awaited chairs of its presidential transition team, former Trump aide Brooke Rollins made an appearance on Fox Business to share her thoughts on the leadership selections. Her responses were decidedly enthusiastic: she praised Linda McMahon, the former World Wrestling Entertainment executive and head of Trump’s Small Business Administration, as “remarkable.” Additionally, Rollins highlighted Howard Lutnick, a billionaire Wall Street figure and Trump megadonor, as someone who had “the trust of the president.” She described their selection as marked by “a great day for America,” especially in the context of ongoing attempts to “[reclaim] the country from the hands of the socialists.”
“If you put those two [people] together,” Rollins said, knitting her well-manicured fingers into an interlocking pattern in front of her chest, “it’s magic.”
However, the real magic of the moment lay with Rollins herself. Although she didn’t express it publicly, the appointments signified a significant achievement for her. McMahon, a close friend and collaborator, serves as chair of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), the pro-Trump think tank that Rollins co-founded in 2021. Trump’s choice of McMahon conveyed a clear message across the MAGA community: AFPI — and by extension Rollins — had emerged victorious in the struggle for influence in shaping a potential second Trump administration.
Even in this apparent moment of victory, Rollins exhibited a behavior atypical of many Washington insiders: she shifted praise away from herself and onto McMahon and Lutnick. This was not an off-the-cuff act of humility; rather, it was a calculated tactic that those familiar with Rollins say she has utilized effectively to ascend from a relatively obscure aide in Trump's White House to a central figure in the Trump transition effort. Like a skilled illusionist, Rollins seemed to grasp that to achieve her goals, she first needed to redirect her audience's attention.
This talent illustrates how Rollins has become a prominent Republican operative, largely unnoticed by the general public. Through strategic positioning and maneuvering, she has managed to place herself and AFPI at the core of the Trump world without attracting unwelcome scrutiny or falling prey to the dramatic downfalls that have impacted many other ambitious operatives within the Trump orbit. Should Trump succeed in the upcoming elections, Rollins is poised to become a formidable conservative power broker, wielding considerable sway over Trump’s policy direction and administration appointments.
While AFPI operates independently of Trump’s official transition team, conservative insiders in Washington are aware that Rollins and AFPI effectively guide the transition, having outsmarted competing conservative groups — particularly the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — in their quest for influence. Reportedly, Rollins has discussed AFPI’s strategies with Trump, and at least two associates from AFPI — former Trump officials Michael Rigas and Doug Hoelscher — are directly involved with the transition. A person familiar with the situation remarked to PMG in August that “AFPI and the transition may be a distinction without a difference.”
Rollins’ reach may extend beyond just the transition. While she publicly downplays aspirations for a senior role in a second Trump administration, her name has surfaced in discussions among conservatives as a potential chief of staff candidate — a role that would give her unmatched authority in shaping personnel and policy. She appears to be in contention for the role alongside Susie Wiles, Trump's de facto campaign manager, and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“President Trump thinks very highly of Brooke,” a senior Trump adviser confided, speaking anonymously to share the former president's sentiments. “He has said, ‘She could run any company in the country.’”
Despite her expanding influence, Rollins evokes mixed feelings within the broader MAGA coalition. Among the nationalist-populist segment of the GOP, there is a perception that Rollins and her allies at AFPI represent a remnant of the traditional Republican establishment, intent on maintaining the pre-Trump political conventions that prioritize free trade, deregulation, business-friendly economic policies, and a robust global presence for the U.S. During her time in the Trump White House — where she joined in 2018 as the director of the lesser-known Office of American Innovation and later became acting director of the Domestic Policy Council in 2020 — Rollins developed ties with Jared Kushner, who was acknowledged as the head of the White House’s more centrist and corporatist faction. Supported by Kushner, Rollins prioritized criminal justice reform, a position that sometimes placed her at odds with Trump’s more hardline advisers.
“She is a Bush conservative,” remarked a former Trump administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “She’s an unrepentant H.W. [Bush], Rick Perry [conservative] — that’s her ideology.”
This report is synthesized from a comprehensive examination of Rollins’ public statements, numerous conversations with insiders, and several interviews with people who have collaborated closely with her, including some of her staunchest supporters. Most interviewees requested anonymity due to Rollins’ increasing stature. In a statement, an AFPI spokesperson refrained from responding directly to questions about a potential chief of staff role, instead underlining Rollins’ loyalty to Trump: “In an administration where the weakly committed did not last, Brooke was on the team until the very end of term one.” The Trump transition team replied to inquiries regarding Rollins' function with a generic remark that “formal discussions about who will serve in a second Trump Administration is [sic] premature.”
To some degree, AFPI’s plans for a second Trump administration mirror Rollins’ more traditional conservative approach. While its policy objectives touch on Trump-centric topics like immigration restrictions and “draining the swamp,” the majority of its agenda focuses on typical Republican priorities such as reducing government regulation, extending business-friendly tax cuts, and pursuing a foreign policy aligned with the Reagan-era principle of “peace through strength.” The staff and advisers associated with AFPI also reflect Rollins’ pre-Trump inclinations, including Larry Kudlow, who is an outspoken advocate of free trade and has expressed skepticism about Trump’s more aggressive trade and tariff strategies. Similarly, Chad Wolf, executive director of AFPI and a former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under Trump, is seen by some conservatives as a less forceful proponent of immigration limits than hardline advisers like Stephen Miller.
Rollins’ more conventional stance raises questions about the motivations fueling her ascension in the Trump sphere. Supporters assert that her rise stems from her management skills and steadfast loyalty to Trump. Critics, however, suggest she is driven by something more fundamental: “Power,” as one conservative insider familiar with the transition characterized it.
This situation invites speculation about what Rollins’ influence might imply for the direction of a second Trump administration. Trump’s selection of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate was interpreted by many conservative observers as a sign that the former president was fully embracing Vance’s assertive brand of populist-nationalist conservatism, closely associated with the “national conservative” segment of the GOP. Nonetheless, Rollins’ sway in the transition points to a more traditional conservative presence — a group that many national conservatives dismiss as echoes of a “dead conservative consensus” — still playing a significant role in a possible second Trump administration.
While this doesn’t imply that a second Trump administration would be a mirror image of Rollins and AFPI’s vision, it does indicate that personal allegiance to Trump — the unifying force behind the MAGA coalition — continues to bridge significant ideological divides within the institutional GOP. Advocates of Trump have suggested that a second Trump presidency would avoid the kind of factional conflicts that marred the first; however, the simultaneous elevation of figures like Rollins and Vance ensures that those ideological tensions are likely to persist.
Rollins has characterized her advancement within Trump’s circle as a matter of chance: “I’ve never angled for anything in my entire life,” she stated in a 2022 interview with Real Clear Politics.
Nevertheless, evidence of Rollins actively positioning herself for her next significant role is clear. Since Trump announced his transition team in August, she has strategically stayed out of the limelight, enhancing her influence behind the scenes while other factions have risked alienating Trump through public displays of ambition. This approach has proven advantageous for Rollins: she has emerged as one of the leading operatives within Trump's sphere, even as she remains largely unfamiliar to those outside elite political circles.
Now, at a peak of influence, Rollins — who declined multiple requests for interviews regarding this article — is working to maintain her low profile.
The foundation of Brooke Rollins’ success can be traced back to her two early passions: politics and pageantry. While attending Texas A&M University in the early 1990s, Rollins, originally from the small town of Glen Rose, Texas, gained recognition in the university’s beauty pageant circuit, finishing fourth in the 1993 Miss Texas A&M pageant and serving as Cotton Bowl Queen during the Texas A&M versus University of Notre Dame matchup.
Rollins also forged a path in campus politics, securing a seat in the university Senate and rising to the roles of speaker pro tempore and chair of the campus judicial board. In 1994, she successfully campaigned for the position of student body president, making history as the first woman to hold that title at the university.
In reflecting on her win, Rollins expressed a beauty queen’s concern for her public reputation. “I do not want to be remembered as the first woman president,” she shared with the Texas A&M school newspaper in an article detailing her victory, next to a photograph of her being joyfully lifted on her classmates' shoulders. “I want to be remembered as the best student body president ever.”
Shortly after, Rollins shifted her focus away from pageantry to pursue a career in politics. Following law school and a period in private practice, she joined the office of then-Governor Rick Perry, ultimately becoming the governor’s policy director. In 2003, Perry recommended Rollins for the role of head of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a small, free-market think tank aligned with Perry’s conservative allies. Despite the foundation’s connection to billionaire James Leininger, it struggled with limited funding and fought for a place in Austin’s political landscape.
As president of TPPF, Rollins found that foothold — and quickly advanced her position. By 2011, she had transformed TPPF into “a bedrock institution of the Texas right,” as characterized in a profile by Texas Observer, “with 40 employees, an annual budget of $4.5 million, and the loyalty of top-tier conservative politicians.” The turnaround was largely due to Rollins’ upbeat and inclusive leadership, which helped her gain allies among notable figures in the Texas Republican Party, including Senator John Cornyn and future Senator Ted Cruz, as well as influential donors like Koch Industries and Texas oil magnate Tim Dunn.
“Once you started listening to her, you would buy into [whatever she was saying], and you would want to do it,” a former colleague at TPPF recalled.
Under Rollins’ guidance, TPPF adeptly merged the anti-government principles of mainstream conservativism with the populist zeal of the budding Tea Party movement. Nonetheless, she was recognized for not fully embracing the sharper edge of the Tea Party. Among her coworkers, Rollins was known for rallying support for various causes while leaving others to define the specifics of those causes.
“She was more of a happy warrior than a taskmaster,” the former TPPF employee explained.
Rollins did, however, engage more deeply in TPPF’s criminal justice reform initiatives. This issue aligned with two foundational aspects of her political philosophy: fiscal conservatism and Christian values. During the early 2000s, Texas faced a rapidly growing prison population that was outpacing its prison infrastructure, while the Republican-controlled state legislature grappled with a budget crisis. In response, Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick approached TPPF seeking strategies to avoid increased spending on prisons. The task spoke to Rollins’ belief in redemption and forgiveness through her Christian faith, as well as appeasing her libertarian-leaning donors’ opposition to expanding the penal system.
In 2007, TPPF collaborated with several conservative organizations to launch Right on Crime, a campaign targeting libertarian-oriented criminal justice reforms. By 2011, the initiative had achieved multiple policy victories nationwide and garnered support from prominent national Republicans, including Newt Gingrich and Jeb Bush. Within Washington, her work positioned her as a savvy institution builder and a preeminent conservative voice on criminal justice reform, attributes that ultimately paved her path to the Trump White House.
On January 11, 2018, Rollins took a seat next to Trump in the White House’s Roosevelt Room during a roundtable discussion on criminal justice reform convened by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. At that point, Kushner was encouraging Rollins, who had served as an economic adviser on Trump’s 2016 campaign, to join the administration and lead its criminal justice reform initiatives. Initially, Rollins was hesitant — but her resistance would not last long.
By February 2018, she officially joined the administration as the director of the Office of American Innovation, a little-known office Kushner had established in 2017 with vague responsibilities aimed at interfacing with the tech sector. Although this move technically elevated her position, it wasn’t straightforward: Rollins transitioned from leading a significant conservative think tank to a White House office regarded by the press as Kushner’s “pet project.”
She had other ambitions for her new role. Behind the scenes, Kushner had urged her to evolve the office into a sort of shadow Domestic Policy Council, branding it a “limitless, around-the-clock [policy] shop that knows how to get things done,” as she later described it. Rollins proceeded to expand the office's responsibilities.
Despite not being a high-profile position, it provided Rollins the latitude to work clandestinely on the criminal justice reform efforts she championed. Throughout 2018, she collaborated closely with Kushner and policy advisor Ja’Ron Smith to build congressional support for the reform package and to combat opposition from more hardline figures in the administration, such as then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Ultimately, the efforts succeeded, culminating in Trump signing a series of bipartisan prison and sentencing reforms into law, known as the First Step Act, in December 2018.
Even as Rollins pushed resolutely for the criminal justice reform initiative, some West Wing colleagues speculated that she was aiming to ascend further up the White House hierarchy, targeting the top role in the Domestic Policy Council, which Kushner believed was crucial for gaining greater influence within the administration. Among her peers, Rollins became known for her practice of carrying white binders filled with memos on various policy matters, which led some to interpret her growing involvement as a signal that she was attempting to position herself for a key leadership role.
“Brooke was always growing her involvement in different issues,” a former administration official observed. “Suddenly it was like, ‘Well, Brooke’s involved in this, Brooke’s involved in that — maybe she should be DPC director.’”
In May 2020, that precisely transpired. After the appointment of former Jeb Bush adviser Derek Lyons fell through due to conservative backlash, Trump appointed Rollins as acting director in his stead.
Rollins’ ascent to policy chief occurred at a particularly tumultuous time for the administration. Having taken the reins of the Domestic Policy Council during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rollins faced the daunting task of “opening” the country as the virus surged.
Her role became even more complicated due to the rising Black Lives Matter protests, which intensified existing rifts in the White House over Kushner’s criminal justice reform efforts. As the country approached the November elections, a faction of Trump’s advisers pressed for him to distance himself from the First Step Act, labeling it politically “a total dud.” However, as the protests escalated, significant divisions arose among senior officials regarding Trump’s response plan. Rollins adopted a more conciliatory stance, recognizing that there were potential “systemic injustice issues” in the U.S. and calling on Americans to “rise above the division and the divide and come together.” In mid-June, Trump signed an executive order that Rollins had a hand in drafting, which incentivized local and state police reforms. This decision angered many of his supporters, who blamed Rollins for what they perceived as the administration’s inadequate response to the protests.
In the chaotic latter months of Trump’s first term, Rollins’ task of devising a policy agenda for a possible second term offered her a measure of relief. By mid-2020, she, Kudlow, and a group of senior advisers were working in the West Wing on a two-page document labeled “Vision 2025,” outlining ten policy priorities.
This document was intended as a roadmap for Trump’s next term. However, following Trump’s electoral loss, it transformed into a declaration of intent for Rollins’ next initiative. On January 6, 2021, as crowds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Rollins was focused on her vision. “That was incredibly heartbreaking for me for a lot of reasons,” she later reflected on January 6, acknowledging her initial thought that the incident would detract from the policy discussions needed to “really save the country.”
Nonetheless, her concerns about the event proved fleeting. Soon after, she reframed the attack and Trump’s subsequent departure from Washington as an opportunity to press ahead with her work out of public scrutiny.
“I realized, ‘You know what?’” she later recounted in an interview. “Now we just have to double down.”
The America First Policy Institute was officially launched in April 2021, with Rollins as president, McMahon as chair, and Kudlow as vice-chair. While on the surface, AFPI appeared to fulfill the role of other Trump-aligned policy organizations emerging in D.C. — to maintain the efforts initiated during Trump’s presidency and lay groundwork for a future administration — Rollins and AFPI offered resources that distinguished them from their competitors: substantial funding and political clout. At its inception, AFPI claimed to possess a remarkable $20 million at its disposal, earmarked for establishing a presence in Washington.
Rollins also conveyed that she intended to leverage that financial advantage not only for policy initiatives but also for political strategies. In November 2021, AFPI allied with America First Policies, the politically active organization established by Trump allies in 2016, to form America First Works, a new group focused on architecting a political plan for Trump’s anticipated re-election campaign. This partnership positioned AFPI as a significant force in the political landscape: the former policy arm of Trump’s administration and pivotal political organization coming together.
Later that month, AFPI hosted a high-profile gala in Mar-a-Lago, combining policy discussions with fundraising efforts. During the event, a tuxedo-clad Trump offered Rollins and AFPI his endorsement, signaling the duo’s collaboration.
However, AFPI was not the sole well-connected conservative faction vying for authority regarding a potential second Trump term. Meanwhile, at the Heritage Foundation, newly elected president Kevin Roberts concentrated on assembling his version of a transition initiative, named Project 2025, which aimed to cultivate a broad coalition of conservative entities. Behind the scenes, a long-standing friendship existed between Roberts and Rollins: in 2016, Rollins had appointed Roberts as her deputy at TPPF, and he subsequently ascended to lead the organization after her transition to the Trump White House in 2018. Despite their shared history, the two approached their roles with distinctly different temperaments: Rollins, the enthusiastic leader, and Roberts, the fiery advocate.
Yet the former collaborators found themselves developing competing pro-Trump power centers in Washington, which escalated tensions. Ahead of Project 2025’s official launch in April 2022, Roberts repeatedly reached out to AFPI to explore opportunities for collaboration, only to be met with repeated refusals. Heritage did not accept AFPI’s rejection lightly: in September 2023, just before AFPI’s announcement of its own transition initiative, Roberts recruited former Trump aide Troup Hemenway — who had been designated by AFPI to oversee its project — to take on a leading role within Project 2025. Observers noted that the growing competition reflected “the flavor of a sibling rivalry,” although it sometimes unspooled into outright enmity: “AFPI and Heritage hate each other with a passion,” a Trump operative informed The Daily Beast in October 2023. “The Heritage people look down on the AFPI people like they’re a joke. And the AFPI people look at the Heritage people like they’re phony MAGA.”
The discord consumed substantial political attention, so much so that the Trump campaign eventually issued a statement in November 2023 distancing itself from both AFPI and Heritage’s transition efforts. Privately, Trump expressed frustration over the sums of money that AFPI was raising with the America First branding, believing that their fundraising was diverting support away from the campaign. “It’s my fucking money!” Trump was reportedly heard venting to aides in October 2023, alluding to the $23 million AFPI raised in 2022.
Knowing how to respond, Rollins strategically withdrew from the public eye to safeguard her influence. For nine months, AFPI kept a low profile, focusing on drafting policy proposals, executive orders, and creating lists of essential appointments for the upcoming administration. In contrast, Heritage started to return to visibility in spring 2024, drawn by the mounting media attention surrounding Project 2025, which it had initially sought.
AFPI’s discreet approach proved to be successful. By July 2024, in the aftermath of significant negative publicity regarding Project 2025's extreme proposals for a second Trump administration, Trump publicly denounced Heritage’s initiative. This denouncement led to the resignation of Project 2025’s director, Paul Dans.
Whether or not Trump’s condemnation of Project 2025 was merely a tactical maneuver, it represented an unqualified win for Rollins. Her primary competitor for influence over the Trump transition had now become politically unpalatable for the campaign to associate with openly. A month later, in August, the Trump campaign named its official transition team with AFPI’s McMahon as co-chair.
Rollins briefly emerged from the shadows during an appearance on Kudlow’s Fox Business show, if only to redirect attention elsewhere.
For nearly four years, AFPI has diligently worked behind the scenes in preparation for Trump’s possible return to influence. Operating out of a complex adjacent to the upscale Willard InterContinental Hotel in downtown D.C., the organization has conducted interviews with over 1,000 former administration officials, drafted more than 100 executive actions, and compiled critical job lists for prioritization before Inauguration Day. Recently, AFPI has approached influential Republican lobbyists to evaluate proposed plans for federal agencies and proposed initiatives for the initial 200 days of a second Trump administration. Additionally, in a move to strengthen its presence on Capitol Hill, AFPI announced a new collaboration in late September with the Senate Working Group, established in 2021 to facilitate coordination among Republican Hill staff.
Rollins’ influence in the formal transition processes has mostly been informal; however, her and AFPI's staff frequently engage in discussions with the Trump transition team. The input from AFPI has significantly broadened in recent months, particularly due to McMahon’s role as co-chair. On paper, the transition has implemented a two-pronged strategy: McMahon is tasked with policy planning while Lutnick handles personnel management. Still, a source with direct knowledge of the transition indicated that AFPI’s influence spans both areas.
Moreover, the Trump campaign's decision to delay the announcement of an official transition staff until mid-August — a timeline much later than what is typical — has intensified the reliance on the groundwork laid by AFPI to compensate for lost time.
“There just isn’t the time to recreate an entire transition project, so AFPI has their own Project 2025 that they can pull off the shelf and say, ‘See here!’” the former administration official explained.
On a broader scale, Rollins has successfully maintained her preferred operating style: remaining out of the spotlight. Apart from a few appearances on conservative cable news, she avoids significant media engagement and seldom provides on-the-record comments. In September, while AFPI hosted a discussion on economic policy featuring House Speaker Mike Johnson, Rollins only briefly took the stage to introduce him. She made a single campaign trail appearance in mid-October at a “Team Trump Bus Tour” event in North Carolina, sharing the stage with notable Trump surrogates including Rep. Elise Stefanik and former Trump advisor Kash Patel, both of whom are viewed as potential candidates for senior roles in a second administration.
A conservative insider suggested that Rollins’ ability to skirt unwanted attention stems from a general desire among Washington insiders to avoid crossing someone who may hold the keys to top appointments in the next Trump administration. This shift in visibility represents a new form of anonymity for someone who has spent her career navigating the margins of influence.
“Two months ago, you could throw a rock at somebody in Washington who would roll their eyes and be like, ‘Why are you talking about Brooke? She’s irrelevant,’” the insider remarked under the condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly about transition dynamics. “But now, nobody's going to talk [about her] because she and her team are part of the transition.”
Power is invisibility. Invisibility is power. For now, Rollins enjoys the advantage of both.
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
“If you put those two [people] together,” Rollins said, knitting her well-manicured fingers into an interlocking pattern in front of her chest, “it’s magic.”
However, the real magic of the moment lay with Rollins herself. Although she didn’t express it publicly, the appointments signified a significant achievement for her. McMahon, a close friend and collaborator, serves as chair of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), the pro-Trump think tank that Rollins co-founded in 2021. Trump’s choice of McMahon conveyed a clear message across the MAGA community: AFPI — and by extension Rollins — had emerged victorious in the struggle for influence in shaping a potential second Trump administration.
Even in this apparent moment of victory, Rollins exhibited a behavior atypical of many Washington insiders: she shifted praise away from herself and onto McMahon and Lutnick. This was not an off-the-cuff act of humility; rather, it was a calculated tactic that those familiar with Rollins say she has utilized effectively to ascend from a relatively obscure aide in Trump's White House to a central figure in the Trump transition effort. Like a skilled illusionist, Rollins seemed to grasp that to achieve her goals, she first needed to redirect her audience's attention.
This talent illustrates how Rollins has become a prominent Republican operative, largely unnoticed by the general public. Through strategic positioning and maneuvering, she has managed to place herself and AFPI at the core of the Trump world without attracting unwelcome scrutiny or falling prey to the dramatic downfalls that have impacted many other ambitious operatives within the Trump orbit. Should Trump succeed in the upcoming elections, Rollins is poised to become a formidable conservative power broker, wielding considerable sway over Trump’s policy direction and administration appointments.
While AFPI operates independently of Trump’s official transition team, conservative insiders in Washington are aware that Rollins and AFPI effectively guide the transition, having outsmarted competing conservative groups — particularly the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — in their quest for influence. Reportedly, Rollins has discussed AFPI’s strategies with Trump, and at least two associates from AFPI — former Trump officials Michael Rigas and Doug Hoelscher — are directly involved with the transition. A person familiar with the situation remarked to PMG in August that “AFPI and the transition may be a distinction without a difference.”
Rollins’ reach may extend beyond just the transition. While she publicly downplays aspirations for a senior role in a second Trump administration, her name has surfaced in discussions among conservatives as a potential chief of staff candidate — a role that would give her unmatched authority in shaping personnel and policy. She appears to be in contention for the role alongside Susie Wiles, Trump's de facto campaign manager, and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“President Trump thinks very highly of Brooke,” a senior Trump adviser confided, speaking anonymously to share the former president's sentiments. “He has said, ‘She could run any company in the country.’”
Despite her expanding influence, Rollins evokes mixed feelings within the broader MAGA coalition. Among the nationalist-populist segment of the GOP, there is a perception that Rollins and her allies at AFPI represent a remnant of the traditional Republican establishment, intent on maintaining the pre-Trump political conventions that prioritize free trade, deregulation, business-friendly economic policies, and a robust global presence for the U.S. During her time in the Trump White House — where she joined in 2018 as the director of the lesser-known Office of American Innovation and later became acting director of the Domestic Policy Council in 2020 — Rollins developed ties with Jared Kushner, who was acknowledged as the head of the White House’s more centrist and corporatist faction. Supported by Kushner, Rollins prioritized criminal justice reform, a position that sometimes placed her at odds with Trump’s more hardline advisers.
“She is a Bush conservative,” remarked a former Trump administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “She’s an unrepentant H.W. [Bush], Rick Perry [conservative] — that’s her ideology.”
This report is synthesized from a comprehensive examination of Rollins’ public statements, numerous conversations with insiders, and several interviews with people who have collaborated closely with her, including some of her staunchest supporters. Most interviewees requested anonymity due to Rollins’ increasing stature. In a statement, an AFPI spokesperson refrained from responding directly to questions about a potential chief of staff role, instead underlining Rollins’ loyalty to Trump: “In an administration where the weakly committed did not last, Brooke was on the team until the very end of term one.” The Trump transition team replied to inquiries regarding Rollins' function with a generic remark that “formal discussions about who will serve in a second Trump Administration is [sic] premature.”
To some degree, AFPI’s plans for a second Trump administration mirror Rollins’ more traditional conservative approach. While its policy objectives touch on Trump-centric topics like immigration restrictions and “draining the swamp,” the majority of its agenda focuses on typical Republican priorities such as reducing government regulation, extending business-friendly tax cuts, and pursuing a foreign policy aligned with the Reagan-era principle of “peace through strength.” The staff and advisers associated with AFPI also reflect Rollins’ pre-Trump inclinations, including Larry Kudlow, who is an outspoken advocate of free trade and has expressed skepticism about Trump’s more aggressive trade and tariff strategies. Similarly, Chad Wolf, executive director of AFPI and a former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under Trump, is seen by some conservatives as a less forceful proponent of immigration limits than hardline advisers like Stephen Miller.
Rollins’ more conventional stance raises questions about the motivations fueling her ascension in the Trump sphere. Supporters assert that her rise stems from her management skills and steadfast loyalty to Trump. Critics, however, suggest she is driven by something more fundamental: “Power,” as one conservative insider familiar with the transition characterized it.
This situation invites speculation about what Rollins’ influence might imply for the direction of a second Trump administration. Trump’s selection of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate was interpreted by many conservative observers as a sign that the former president was fully embracing Vance’s assertive brand of populist-nationalist conservatism, closely associated with the “national conservative” segment of the GOP. Nonetheless, Rollins’ sway in the transition points to a more traditional conservative presence — a group that many national conservatives dismiss as echoes of a “dead conservative consensus” — still playing a significant role in a possible second Trump administration.
While this doesn’t imply that a second Trump administration would be a mirror image of Rollins and AFPI’s vision, it does indicate that personal allegiance to Trump — the unifying force behind the MAGA coalition — continues to bridge significant ideological divides within the institutional GOP. Advocates of Trump have suggested that a second Trump presidency would avoid the kind of factional conflicts that marred the first; however, the simultaneous elevation of figures like Rollins and Vance ensures that those ideological tensions are likely to persist.
Rollins has characterized her advancement within Trump’s circle as a matter of chance: “I’ve never angled for anything in my entire life,” she stated in a 2022 interview with Real Clear Politics.
Nevertheless, evidence of Rollins actively positioning herself for her next significant role is clear. Since Trump announced his transition team in August, she has strategically stayed out of the limelight, enhancing her influence behind the scenes while other factions have risked alienating Trump through public displays of ambition. This approach has proven advantageous for Rollins: she has emerged as one of the leading operatives within Trump's sphere, even as she remains largely unfamiliar to those outside elite political circles.
Now, at a peak of influence, Rollins — who declined multiple requests for interviews regarding this article — is working to maintain her low profile.
The foundation of Brooke Rollins’ success can be traced back to her two early passions: politics and pageantry. While attending Texas A&M University in the early 1990s, Rollins, originally from the small town of Glen Rose, Texas, gained recognition in the university’s beauty pageant circuit, finishing fourth in the 1993 Miss Texas A&M pageant and serving as Cotton Bowl Queen during the Texas A&M versus University of Notre Dame matchup.
Rollins also forged a path in campus politics, securing a seat in the university Senate and rising to the roles of speaker pro tempore and chair of the campus judicial board. In 1994, she successfully campaigned for the position of student body president, making history as the first woman to hold that title at the university.
In reflecting on her win, Rollins expressed a beauty queen’s concern for her public reputation. “I do not want to be remembered as the first woman president,” she shared with the Texas A&M school newspaper in an article detailing her victory, next to a photograph of her being joyfully lifted on her classmates' shoulders. “I want to be remembered as the best student body president ever.”
Shortly after, Rollins shifted her focus away from pageantry to pursue a career in politics. Following law school and a period in private practice, she joined the office of then-Governor Rick Perry, ultimately becoming the governor’s policy director. In 2003, Perry recommended Rollins for the role of head of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a small, free-market think tank aligned with Perry’s conservative allies. Despite the foundation’s connection to billionaire James Leininger, it struggled with limited funding and fought for a place in Austin’s political landscape.
As president of TPPF, Rollins found that foothold — and quickly advanced her position. By 2011, she had transformed TPPF into “a bedrock institution of the Texas right,” as characterized in a profile by Texas Observer, “with 40 employees, an annual budget of $4.5 million, and the loyalty of top-tier conservative politicians.” The turnaround was largely due to Rollins’ upbeat and inclusive leadership, which helped her gain allies among notable figures in the Texas Republican Party, including Senator John Cornyn and future Senator Ted Cruz, as well as influential donors like Koch Industries and Texas oil magnate Tim Dunn.
“Once you started listening to her, you would buy into [whatever she was saying], and you would want to do it,” a former colleague at TPPF recalled.
Under Rollins’ guidance, TPPF adeptly merged the anti-government principles of mainstream conservativism with the populist zeal of the budding Tea Party movement. Nonetheless, she was recognized for not fully embracing the sharper edge of the Tea Party. Among her coworkers, Rollins was known for rallying support for various causes while leaving others to define the specifics of those causes.
“She was more of a happy warrior than a taskmaster,” the former TPPF employee explained.
Rollins did, however, engage more deeply in TPPF’s criminal justice reform initiatives. This issue aligned with two foundational aspects of her political philosophy: fiscal conservatism and Christian values. During the early 2000s, Texas faced a rapidly growing prison population that was outpacing its prison infrastructure, while the Republican-controlled state legislature grappled with a budget crisis. In response, Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick approached TPPF seeking strategies to avoid increased spending on prisons. The task spoke to Rollins’ belief in redemption and forgiveness through her Christian faith, as well as appeasing her libertarian-leaning donors’ opposition to expanding the penal system.
In 2007, TPPF collaborated with several conservative organizations to launch Right on Crime, a campaign targeting libertarian-oriented criminal justice reforms. By 2011, the initiative had achieved multiple policy victories nationwide and garnered support from prominent national Republicans, including Newt Gingrich and Jeb Bush. Within Washington, her work positioned her as a savvy institution builder and a preeminent conservative voice on criminal justice reform, attributes that ultimately paved her path to the Trump White House.
On January 11, 2018, Rollins took a seat next to Trump in the White House’s Roosevelt Room during a roundtable discussion on criminal justice reform convened by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. At that point, Kushner was encouraging Rollins, who had served as an economic adviser on Trump’s 2016 campaign, to join the administration and lead its criminal justice reform initiatives. Initially, Rollins was hesitant — but her resistance would not last long.
By February 2018, she officially joined the administration as the director of the Office of American Innovation, a little-known office Kushner had established in 2017 with vague responsibilities aimed at interfacing with the tech sector. Although this move technically elevated her position, it wasn’t straightforward: Rollins transitioned from leading a significant conservative think tank to a White House office regarded by the press as Kushner’s “pet project.”
She had other ambitions for her new role. Behind the scenes, Kushner had urged her to evolve the office into a sort of shadow Domestic Policy Council, branding it a “limitless, around-the-clock [policy] shop that knows how to get things done,” as she later described it. Rollins proceeded to expand the office's responsibilities.
Despite not being a high-profile position, it provided Rollins the latitude to work clandestinely on the criminal justice reform efforts she championed. Throughout 2018, she collaborated closely with Kushner and policy advisor Ja’Ron Smith to build congressional support for the reform package and to combat opposition from more hardline figures in the administration, such as then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Ultimately, the efforts succeeded, culminating in Trump signing a series of bipartisan prison and sentencing reforms into law, known as the First Step Act, in December 2018.
Even as Rollins pushed resolutely for the criminal justice reform initiative, some West Wing colleagues speculated that she was aiming to ascend further up the White House hierarchy, targeting the top role in the Domestic Policy Council, which Kushner believed was crucial for gaining greater influence within the administration. Among her peers, Rollins became known for her practice of carrying white binders filled with memos on various policy matters, which led some to interpret her growing involvement as a signal that she was attempting to position herself for a key leadership role.
“Brooke was always growing her involvement in different issues,” a former administration official observed. “Suddenly it was like, ‘Well, Brooke’s involved in this, Brooke’s involved in that — maybe she should be DPC director.’”
In May 2020, that precisely transpired. After the appointment of former Jeb Bush adviser Derek Lyons fell through due to conservative backlash, Trump appointed Rollins as acting director in his stead.
Rollins’ ascent to policy chief occurred at a particularly tumultuous time for the administration. Having taken the reins of the Domestic Policy Council during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rollins faced the daunting task of “opening” the country as the virus surged.
Her role became even more complicated due to the rising Black Lives Matter protests, which intensified existing rifts in the White House over Kushner’s criminal justice reform efforts. As the country approached the November elections, a faction of Trump’s advisers pressed for him to distance himself from the First Step Act, labeling it politically “a total dud.” However, as the protests escalated, significant divisions arose among senior officials regarding Trump’s response plan. Rollins adopted a more conciliatory stance, recognizing that there were potential “systemic injustice issues” in the U.S. and calling on Americans to “rise above the division and the divide and come together.” In mid-June, Trump signed an executive order that Rollins had a hand in drafting, which incentivized local and state police reforms. This decision angered many of his supporters, who blamed Rollins for what they perceived as the administration’s inadequate response to the protests.
In the chaotic latter months of Trump’s first term, Rollins’ task of devising a policy agenda for a possible second term offered her a measure of relief. By mid-2020, she, Kudlow, and a group of senior advisers were working in the West Wing on a two-page document labeled “Vision 2025,” outlining ten policy priorities.
This document was intended as a roadmap for Trump’s next term. However, following Trump’s electoral loss, it transformed into a declaration of intent for Rollins’ next initiative. On January 6, 2021, as crowds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Rollins was focused on her vision. “That was incredibly heartbreaking for me for a lot of reasons,” she later reflected on January 6, acknowledging her initial thought that the incident would detract from the policy discussions needed to “really save the country.”
Nonetheless, her concerns about the event proved fleeting. Soon after, she reframed the attack and Trump’s subsequent departure from Washington as an opportunity to press ahead with her work out of public scrutiny.
“I realized, ‘You know what?’” she later recounted in an interview. “Now we just have to double down.”
The America First Policy Institute was officially launched in April 2021, with Rollins as president, McMahon as chair, and Kudlow as vice-chair. While on the surface, AFPI appeared to fulfill the role of other Trump-aligned policy organizations emerging in D.C. — to maintain the efforts initiated during Trump’s presidency and lay groundwork for a future administration — Rollins and AFPI offered resources that distinguished them from their competitors: substantial funding and political clout. At its inception, AFPI claimed to possess a remarkable $20 million at its disposal, earmarked for establishing a presence in Washington.
Rollins also conveyed that she intended to leverage that financial advantage not only for policy initiatives but also for political strategies. In November 2021, AFPI allied with America First Policies, the politically active organization established by Trump allies in 2016, to form America First Works, a new group focused on architecting a political plan for Trump’s anticipated re-election campaign. This partnership positioned AFPI as a significant force in the political landscape: the former policy arm of Trump’s administration and pivotal political organization coming together.
Later that month, AFPI hosted a high-profile gala in Mar-a-Lago, combining policy discussions with fundraising efforts. During the event, a tuxedo-clad Trump offered Rollins and AFPI his endorsement, signaling the duo’s collaboration.
However, AFPI was not the sole well-connected conservative faction vying for authority regarding a potential second Trump term. Meanwhile, at the Heritage Foundation, newly elected president Kevin Roberts concentrated on assembling his version of a transition initiative, named Project 2025, which aimed to cultivate a broad coalition of conservative entities. Behind the scenes, a long-standing friendship existed between Roberts and Rollins: in 2016, Rollins had appointed Roberts as her deputy at TPPF, and he subsequently ascended to lead the organization after her transition to the Trump White House in 2018. Despite their shared history, the two approached their roles with distinctly different temperaments: Rollins, the enthusiastic leader, and Roberts, the fiery advocate.
Yet the former collaborators found themselves developing competing pro-Trump power centers in Washington, which escalated tensions. Ahead of Project 2025’s official launch in April 2022, Roberts repeatedly reached out to AFPI to explore opportunities for collaboration, only to be met with repeated refusals. Heritage did not accept AFPI’s rejection lightly: in September 2023, just before AFPI’s announcement of its own transition initiative, Roberts recruited former Trump aide Troup Hemenway — who had been designated by AFPI to oversee its project — to take on a leading role within Project 2025. Observers noted that the growing competition reflected “the flavor of a sibling rivalry,” although it sometimes unspooled into outright enmity: “AFPI and Heritage hate each other with a passion,” a Trump operative informed The Daily Beast in October 2023. “The Heritage people look down on the AFPI people like they’re a joke. And the AFPI people look at the Heritage people like they’re phony MAGA.”
The discord consumed substantial political attention, so much so that the Trump campaign eventually issued a statement in November 2023 distancing itself from both AFPI and Heritage’s transition efforts. Privately, Trump expressed frustration over the sums of money that AFPI was raising with the America First branding, believing that their fundraising was diverting support away from the campaign. “It’s my fucking money!” Trump was reportedly heard venting to aides in October 2023, alluding to the $23 million AFPI raised in 2022.
Knowing how to respond, Rollins strategically withdrew from the public eye to safeguard her influence. For nine months, AFPI kept a low profile, focusing on drafting policy proposals, executive orders, and creating lists of essential appointments for the upcoming administration. In contrast, Heritage started to return to visibility in spring 2024, drawn by the mounting media attention surrounding Project 2025, which it had initially sought.
AFPI’s discreet approach proved to be successful. By July 2024, in the aftermath of significant negative publicity regarding Project 2025's extreme proposals for a second Trump administration, Trump publicly denounced Heritage’s initiative. This denouncement led to the resignation of Project 2025’s director, Paul Dans.
Whether or not Trump’s condemnation of Project 2025 was merely a tactical maneuver, it represented an unqualified win for Rollins. Her primary competitor for influence over the Trump transition had now become politically unpalatable for the campaign to associate with openly. A month later, in August, the Trump campaign named its official transition team with AFPI’s McMahon as co-chair.
Rollins briefly emerged from the shadows during an appearance on Kudlow’s Fox Business show, if only to redirect attention elsewhere.
For nearly four years, AFPI has diligently worked behind the scenes in preparation for Trump’s possible return to influence. Operating out of a complex adjacent to the upscale Willard InterContinental Hotel in downtown D.C., the organization has conducted interviews with over 1,000 former administration officials, drafted more than 100 executive actions, and compiled critical job lists for prioritization before Inauguration Day. Recently, AFPI has approached influential Republican lobbyists to evaluate proposed plans for federal agencies and proposed initiatives for the initial 200 days of a second Trump administration. Additionally, in a move to strengthen its presence on Capitol Hill, AFPI announced a new collaboration in late September with the Senate Working Group, established in 2021 to facilitate coordination among Republican Hill staff.
Rollins’ influence in the formal transition processes has mostly been informal; however, her and AFPI's staff frequently engage in discussions with the Trump transition team. The input from AFPI has significantly broadened in recent months, particularly due to McMahon’s role as co-chair. On paper, the transition has implemented a two-pronged strategy: McMahon is tasked with policy planning while Lutnick handles personnel management. Still, a source with direct knowledge of the transition indicated that AFPI’s influence spans both areas.
Moreover, the Trump campaign's decision to delay the announcement of an official transition staff until mid-August — a timeline much later than what is typical — has intensified the reliance on the groundwork laid by AFPI to compensate for lost time.
“There just isn’t the time to recreate an entire transition project, so AFPI has their own Project 2025 that they can pull off the shelf and say, ‘See here!’” the former administration official explained.
On a broader scale, Rollins has successfully maintained her preferred operating style: remaining out of the spotlight. Apart from a few appearances on conservative cable news, she avoids significant media engagement and seldom provides on-the-record comments. In September, while AFPI hosted a discussion on economic policy featuring House Speaker Mike Johnson, Rollins only briefly took the stage to introduce him. She made a single campaign trail appearance in mid-October at a “Team Trump Bus Tour” event in North Carolina, sharing the stage with notable Trump surrogates including Rep. Elise Stefanik and former Trump advisor Kash Patel, both of whom are viewed as potential candidates for senior roles in a second administration.
A conservative insider suggested that Rollins’ ability to skirt unwanted attention stems from a general desire among Washington insiders to avoid crossing someone who may hold the keys to top appointments in the next Trump administration. This shift in visibility represents a new form of anonymity for someone who has spent her career navigating the margins of influence.
“Two months ago, you could throw a rock at somebody in Washington who would roll their eyes and be like, ‘Why are you talking about Brooke? She’s irrelevant,’” the insider remarked under the condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly about transition dynamics. “But now, nobody's going to talk [about her] because she and her team are part of the transition.”
Power is invisibility. Invisibility is power. For now, Rollins enjoys the advantage of both.
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
