INTERVIEW: How RNC Chair Joe Gruters plans to turn Trump’s energy into GOP wins
Running the RNC isn't Joe Gruters's first time time helming a GOP organization. He's been doing so for decades. He spoke with the Washington Reporter about his plans for the organization.
Joe Gruters, the new Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), is no stranger to serving as the Chairman of GOP entities — he’s been doing it for two decades. But after President Donald Trump tapped then-RNC Chairman Michael Whatley to run for Senate in North Carolina, Gruters made his way to the biggest stage yet.
Days before the 2025 elections, the Washington Reporter interviewed Gruters in his office about what he’s expecting in November, and how the RNC has worked for months to meet the moment of this November’s elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and across the country.
While the off-year elections are often rough for a president’s party, Gruters likes the hand he was dealt. Trump, he said, is “literally on fire…He’s probably the best president ever to live in my eyes.”
“He’s accomplished so much from the standpoint of, for example, how he’s the peace president,” Gruters said. “Eight different peace deals, this economic investment pouring back into America, and his overall general concern with the wellbeing of Americans. And you go from the H-1B visa announcement to this massive investment that you see with his economic policies, investment back into America, which for decades, the Democrat Party has been talking about, but nobody’s ever been able to figure out a way to do it. He’s done it. And then you look at the fact that he’s the president of law and order, and what he’s doing with some of these big cities, what he’s doing right here in D.C., but it’s not only that. There’s also, of course, the One Big, Beautiful Bill and all these policies that he’s passed, like no tax on tips, no tax on over time, Social Security, the Child Tax Credit, it’s one issue after the next. He’s hitting a home run for the American people. That makes our job as a party a lot easier.”
Gruters said that relationship is defined fairly simply: “I’m the chairman, but he’s the leader,” and the two are working together to defy history in next month’s elections.
In New Jersey, where Republican Jack Ciattarelli remains neck-and-neck with Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D., N.J.) in the open gubernatorial race, Gruters said that “we’ve literally had election integrity team on the ground for seven months, working every day.”
Ciattarelli, Gruters said, is that guy for a blue state Republican. “Jack has already proven that he’s a good candidate,” Gruters noted. “He proved that last time [when Ciattarelli narrowly lost], and when I was campaigning with him, I saw that he’s a great retail politico.”
“People are drawn to his energy,” Gruters added. “They’re drawn to his enthusiasm. We’d just see random strangers recognize him, want to get pictures with him. He has really proven himself to be a first class candidate. And at the end of the day, you always get the question, ‘why do you win or lose certain races? Is it the message? Is it the money? Is it the candidate?’ Everything starts with having the right candidate and the right races. And Jack Ciattarelli, for a blue state, is the perfect Republican candidate, and he’s doing everything he possibly can do to win that, and we’re hoping that he’s successful on Election Night.”
On the flip side, Democrat “Mikie Sherrill has done herself no favors,” Gruters said, invoking the Naval Academy cheating scandal that has embroiled Sherrill for much of her race.
“Look at the Navy issue,” Gruters said. “it seems like she’s stubbing her toe as she moves on.” Republicans up and down the ballot see New Jersey as fertile ground. The Reporter previously broke how the RSLC launched a six-figure radio ad campaign reminding voters in targeted districts about the scandals of Trenton Democrats.
Despite Ciattarelli regularly outperforming Sherrill on the trail, New Jersey is still New Jersey, and Gruters reminded the Reporter that victory is far from assured. “t comes down to turnout and whether or not we’re successful in helping them mobilize those voters [who supported Trump but don’t vote in off-year elections] that they need. We’re facing lots of headwinds, because the normal status for both of these states is that they are heavily against any Republican candidate that runs.”
While New Jersey is a reliably blue state in federal races, Gruters added that Ciattarelli’s ubiquitous presence on the campaign trail and Trump’s success in the Middle East are why traditionally Democratic groups have been coming off the sidelines and backing the Republican.
“He’s a known commodity, especially from the standpoint that he ran four years ago,” Gruters said. “He hasn’t quit, he’s continued his focus, his efforts, on New Jersey over the last couple of years. And I think that once people get to know him, they like him. He’s genuinely a likable candidate, and he’s done a great job from a campaign perspective. You saw the president endorse him, the president’s policies overall, but specifically what the president just accomplished over in Israel and Gaza also helps.”
Turning to Virginia, Gruters said that the Democrats’ nominee for attorney general’s text messages in which he fantasizing about murdering the Republican Speaker of the House were “disgusting and disqualifying. He probably should have removed himself from the ballot,” Gruters said of Jay Jones.
“But,” he added, “what’s even more disgusting is the fact that Spanberger and these Democrats have doubled down on supporting him. They still have stuff on their website supporting Jay Jones, and they still have signs all over Virginia where they’re putting out both their names. They fully embraced him.”
One 2025 race where Gruters was not optimistic is the New York City mayoral race, where he said that “they have an anti-Semite communist that they’re about to put in charge of the biggest city,” referring to Zohran Mamdani.
For weeks, the RNC’s messaging — pushed relentlessly by staffers like Kiersten Pels — has worked to place Mamdani at the forefront of the Democratic Party’s brand. Outside of Mamdani himself, Gruters said that “the only message the Democrats are to have right now is their opposition to the president.” He added that the Schumer Shutdown is a preview of what would happen if Democrats win the 2026 midterms: Democrats would lead an obstructionist Congress that works overtime to impeach Trump a third time.
While Gruters is only a few months into the job, he told the Reporter that he’s thankful for the Whatley-sized shoes he gets to fill.
“He set a very high bar,” Gruters said of his predecessor. “He raised a ton of money. He was a very good steward of the investor dollars. And that’s the legacy and what he left for me. It’s my job to raise more money than him and and to do everything a little bit better. But it just goes show you the job that he did. Chairman Whatley was a workhorse, and I think he’s going to be the same as a U.S. Senate candidate, and as U.S. senator.”
But Gruters himself knows a thing or two about surviving in the cutthroat world of GOP politics, having served as a local and state chairman before ascending to the RNC.
“The only way to survive as a chairman is to win and to do the right thing,” he explained. “And ultimately, what I’ve learned over 23 years of being chairman is to focus on what really matters, and that’s the fundamentals of the party; that’s registering voters, turning voters out, and protecting the vote. That’s what this building does well. We’re the mobilizing force, even in these races that are coming up in a couple weeks, and the midterms, we are going to be the mobilizing force in the umbrella party that brings everybody together.”
Below is a transcript of our interview with RNC Chairman Joe Gruters, lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
Chairman Gruters, before we get to Virginia, New Jersey, and the other elections, let’s start with how view some of the biggest issues in American politics right now, starting off Trump’s second term thus far. How’s it going?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
He’s literally on fire. He’s doing such an amazing job. 250 days on the job, he’s firing on all cylinders, and it’s incredible what he’s been able to accomplish. He’s probably the best president ever to live in my eyes. Look at what the president has done in terms of the Republican Party. I’m the chairman, but he’s the leader. He’s accomplished so much from the standpoint of, for example, how he’s the peace president. Eight different peace deals, this economic investment pouring back into America, and his overall general concern with the wellbeing of Americans. And you go from the H-1B visa announcement to this massive investment that you see with his economic policies, investment back into America, which for decades, the Democrat Party has been talking about, but nobody’s ever been able to figure out a way to do it. He’s done it. And then you look at the fact that he’s the president of law and order, and what he’s doing with some of these big cities, what he’s doing right here in D.C., but it’s not only that. There’s also, of course, the One Big, Beautiful Bill and all these policies that he’s passed, like no tax on tips, no tax on over time, Social Security, the Child Tax Credit, it’s one issue after the next. He’s hitting a home run for the American people. That makes our job as a party a lot easier. I look back and the fact that after the 2020 election, what he was able to do and regroup and prepare for this opportunity that he has in front of him. And I go back to what happened to Butler, Pennsylvania and the fact that I think God saved him, saved the country in the world, and I think he’s doing exactly that.
Washington Reporter:
I’m sure you don’t want to write off the GOP’s chances in the New York City mayoral race, we’re assuming that Curtis Sliwa is not going to win. We’ve seen your team, Kiersten Pels, for example, as seen on Newsmax, talking about Zohran Mamdani as a foil for all Republicans; how do you look at where the Democrats are? They’re in opposition to Trump on every one of those agenda items that you just laid out.
Chairman Joe Gruters:
Well, listen, that’s what they used to champion right? The rights of the American worker across the board. But the only message the Democrats are to have right now is their opposition to the president. We see that through the first 21 days the shutdown of exactly what would happen if the president doesn’t win the midterms next year. It’d be an obstructionist Congress, just look at their willingness to impeach him. And with New York City, they have an anti-Semite communist that they’re about to put in charge of the biggest city. This is 24 years after the World Trade Center. I’m sure you’ve seen it, the fact that he’s taking pictures with these sympathizers and people who were co-conspirators in terror attacks.
Washington Reporter:
Your team gives me no choice but to see them in my inbox.
Chairman Joe Gruters:
The Democrat Party is in a sad position, because they’ve kowtowed and gone all the way to the left to to placate their extreme left wing base, but at the same time, that creates an opportunity for President Trump. In the 30 states where you track voter registration, we’re winning all 30 over the last four years. Why is that? It’s because of the president’s policies.
Washington Reporter:
How do you see this Schumer Shutdown playing out in the political realm?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
Anybody who’s paying attention knows it’s the Democrats who are responsible for the shutdown. There are 10 different times the Senate Democrats have voted to shut it down. Republicans are willing to pass it today if they get five or six more Democrats to vote with them, but they own it. Earlier this year, Schumer made those statements saying that we know we can’t hold the American people hostage as a result of all this. But that’s exactly what they’re doing on a daily basis. It’s the law enforcement, it’s the people who rely on these federal benefits, they are the ones who are going to suffer the most, and all they have to do is pass it. But they want to turn this into a lottery ticket for illegal immigrant health care and $1.5 trillion of liberal extreme policies, and the American public won’t go for that. There may be a lot of policies that they want to discuss, but that should be outside of this particular discussion. The Democrats on this, it’s all on them.
Washington Reporter:
You’ve been chairman for a while in a lot of different capacities in Florida. How do all of those various jobs that you’ve had inform what you do here in your newest chairmanship?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
The only way to survive as a chairman is to win and to do the right thing. And ultimately, what I’ve learned over 23 years of being chairman is to focus on what really matters, and that’s the fundamentals of the party; that’s registering voters, turning voters out, and protecting the vote. That’s what this building does well. We’re the mobilizing force, even in these races that are coming up in a couple weeks, and the midterms, we are going to be the mobilizing force in the umbrella party that brings everybody together. It’s our job to communicate the great job that the president is doing. And all we have to do is convince the people who showed up to vote for the president three consecutive presidential election cycles in a row that a vote for these down ballot candidates is the same as a vote for the president, because what it will do is it will allow him to continue serving as president and allow him to continue to push these great policies we’ve already seen over the first 250 days.
Washington Reporter:
What lessons did your predecessor, Michael Whatley, give you as he left earlier than planned to run for Senate in North Carolina with Trump’s sign off?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
He set a very high bar. He raised a ton of money. He was a very good steward of the investor dollars. And that’s the legacy and what he left for me. It’s my job to raise more money than him and and to do everything a little bit better. But it just goes show you the job that he did. Chairman Whatley was a workhorse, and I think he’s going to be the same as a U.S. Senate candidate, and as U.S. senator. The guy did a phenomenal job. He’s a winner, and he left the party in phenomenal shape. I’m very lucky to be able to come in after him.
Washington Reporter:
You already laid out big picture what you do in this building; I’ve been covering this for multiple chairmanships. But tell us what does this building not do that people think that it does do?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
Well, you could say, running television ads. That’s not what we primarily focus on, because the candidates do much better at running ads, and they have a special rate. Candidates and sister organizations, they energize, where we mobilize, and mobilization and election integrity is probably what we focus on the most specifically. That’s what we saw with Whatley in the 2024 cycle. We’ve had boots on the ground in New Jersey and Virginia for seven months, focusing on EI, focusing on GOTV. That’s what we do well. What we do not focus on is TV ads. That’s not what we really do. You’ll see a little bit of that, but there’s a Supreme Court case that may allow us to coordinate with campaigns, but that’s another future story. And if they do that, then all of a sudden it’s going to be a game changer in terms of what the party does, because all of a sudden we’ll be King Kong.
Washington Reporter:
We’re now about two weeks out from election night. What are you looking at to know if you are hitting the marks that you need to hit in these states across America?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
Well, listen, it’s about volunteer contacts. It’s about having attorneys that we recruited both as a volunteer and paid, and it’s about making sure we have the team on the ground to prepare for the election integrity efforts and our work and in communication that I have with the Chairman of the New Jersey party and of the Virginia party. If you talk to both of them, they’ll both say that they’re very happy with the RNC and what we’ve done this year. Matter of fact, when I was with Jack Ciattarelli campaigning late last week, he said it’s a night and day difference from what he experienced his first campaign to what they feel on the ground right now, because we’re all in with both of these candidates trying to make make sure that they have all the resources and the tools that they need. I’m looking at internals, and we’re seeing both these races tighten up. I’m cautiously optimistic. But what will determine what happens specifically in the New Jersey race is whether or not we can do a good enough job communicating to get our voters out, to get out and vote for Jack.
Washington Reporter:
So let’s look at these two races. Obviously, let’s start with New Jersey, because you keep mentioning that one first. Ostensibly, New Jersey is a harder state for Republicans to win. Trump did only lose it by about six points this this past cycle. As you’re on the ground, what are you hearing that explains why this this has been a closer race, at least in my opinion, than Virginia was for a lot of the cycle?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
Mikie Sherrill has done herself no favors. Look at the Navy issue; it seems like she’s stubbing her toe as she moves on. And on the flip side, Jack has already proven that he’s a good candidate. He proved that last time, and when I was campaigning with him, I saw that he’s a great retail politico. People are drawn to his energy. They’re drawn to his enthusiasm. We’d just see random strangers recognize him, want to get pictures with him. He has really proven himself to be a first class candidate. And at the end of the day, you always get the question, ‘why do you win or lose certain races? Is it the message? Is it the money? Is it the candidate?’ Everything starts with having the right candidate and the right races. And Jack Ciattarelli, for a blue state, is the perfect Republican candidate, and he’s doing everything he possibly can do to win that, and we’re hoping that he’s successful on Election Night. But again, it comes down to turnout and whether or not we’re successful in helping them mobilize those voters that they need. We’re facing lots of headwinds, because the normal status for both of these states is that they are heavily against any Republican candidate that runs.
Washington Reporter:
One of the things that I’ve seen as I’ve looked at that race that is a trend for Ciattarelli is that he is getting a lot of endorsements from both locally elected Democrats and from incredibly populous Jewish communities of New Jersey that endorsed against him four years ago. What do you think explains that success that he’s had on the ground in flipping those constituencies his way?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
He’s a known commodity, especially from the standpoint that he ran four years ago. He hasn’t quit, he’s continued his focus, his efforts on, New Jersey over the last couple of years. And I think that once people get to know him, they like him. He’s genuinely a likable candidate, and he’s done a great job from a campaign perspective. You saw the president endorse him, the president’s policies overall, but specifically what the president just accomplished over in Israel and Gaza also helps, but it’s an overall environment that the president has created across the country for all Republican candidates. It’s the success that he’s created that we’re following and that we’re championing, and that obviously makes our candidates a lot more attractive to the average voter.
Washington Reporter:
In New Jersey in particular, election integrity is important there, perhaps even more so than in Virginia. In addition to the work that you are doing, do you think that the DOJ should do anything to make sure that there are no shenanigans on Election Day?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
What you’re seeing with our election integrity effortsis that we’re working every day on the ground. We have people all over the place to make sure that we’re protecting the vote. That’s the president’s primary concern across the board. That’s what he talks to me all about, and we’ve literally had election integrity team on the ground for seven months, working every day.
Washington Reporter:
No offense to New Jersey, I think Virginia gets more attention in its governor’s race, in part because of the attorney general’s race there. What lesson do you think that is important for Virginia voters, regardless of party, to send in this election, given specifically what we’ve seen from the Democratic nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones? Is there a greater significance to these elections in Virginia in light of the uptick in political violence we’ve seen that transcends just Virginia?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
What Jay Jones did was disgusting and disqualifying. He probably should have removed himself from the ballot. But what’s even more disgusting is the fact that Spanberger and these Democrats have doubled down on supporting him. They still have stuff on their website supporting Jay Jones, and they still have signs all over Virginia where they’re putting out both their names. They fully embraced him. And yes, with what happened with the president with that failed assassination, what happened recently with Charlie Kirk, is important to think about in this context. And although this text may have been a year or two ago, he still said it, it’s still disqualifying. What you’ve seen as a result is the tightening of the polls, because people are sick of the the violent political rhetoric that you are saying as a result of everything that’s happened.
Washington Reporter:
To your point, he didn’t do it a long time ago. He did it two years ago, but a lot of Democrats in Virginia wanted to abandon Ralph Northam for something he did a while ago. And we still don’t know if it was the Klansmen outfit or the blackface. What do you attribute that difference to?
Chairman Joe Gruters:
It’s an election timing standpoint. It’s because they know they can’t get rid of Jay Jones and have a replacement and as a result, they don’t want to lose the race, and so they’re just doubling down and embracing the guy. It shows you where the Democrat Party is; specifically voters on the left are more likely to support political violence when they don’t agree with somebody’s opinion, and the society and the culture of the left has agreed to that somehow, maybe that’s not a bad thing when people are getting shot and getting killed, is a serious problem. It goes back to the fact that it’s disgusting, it’s disturbing, and it’s disqualifying, and the guy should have resigned immediately.
Washington Reporter:
Chairman Gruters, thanks as always.