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Trump’s return to the White House has supercharged Washington’s lobbying ecosystem, particularly for firms tied to his political inner circle. But the post-election boom is not just boosting established lobbying firms—the children and relatives of Trump’s closest allies have also gotten themselves into positions that capitalize on their political connections for professional advancement.
Shortly after Trump’s election, Chris LaCivita Jr., son of Trump’s 2024 campaign strategist and co-campaign manager, and Jackson Hines, a nephew of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., both joined the lobbying firm Checkmate Government Relations. The newly formed firm has sought to position itself as a go-to shop for clients navigating the Trump administration, landing contracts with heavyweight corporations like Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, General Dynamics, and Philip Morris, as well as foreign principals like the secretariat of the Canadian Council of the Federation and the Panama Maritime Authority. The company earned $5.3 million in the first half of the year from its domestic clients alone.
These aren’t symbolic hires. LaCivita Jr., a public affairs director, has registered to lobby for more than 40 clients since the beginning of the year, and for many of them he has reported lobbying the White House on matters such as tariffs, securities regulation, and pharmaceutical drug pricing. He has also landed advisory roles at environmental advocacy groups the American Conservation Coalition and Nature is Non-Partisan. He has also been lobbying on sanctions for Monte Valley Energy, a firm whose founder has said he is interested in buying the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia. LaCivita, who is in his early 20s, graduated from Virginia Tech in 2022 and spent nearly two years as a digital marketing specialist for hunting advocacy group Safari Club International prior to landing the job at Checkmate.
