Think for Yourself

Joe Rogan just hosted his most important episode ever after Republicans lost the midterms as White House insider Calley Means just exposed the real people who are running Trump’s presidency and lists key inner circle names like Susie Wiles, Jame Blair, Richard Walters, and the most powerful lobbying firm known as Ballard Partners: MEANS: “Susie Wiles is the most powerful chief of staff in modern American history. She has taken a stranglehold on any policy decision. No policy decision gets done without her office giving it the okay. She was one of the top lobbyists in the country. It is impossible to describe to you how demonic this culture is.” CONTEXT: Means, who resigned from the administration in OCTOBER, says he witnessed an extraordinary concentration of power inside the White House. He alleges that cabinet secretaries and senior officials spent enormous amounts of time attempting to win favor with Wiles' office because of its influence over which policies could advance. He then identifies several people he believes were central to that power structure: SUSIE WILES: White House chief of staff. JAMES BLAIR: A longtime Trump political strategist and former deputy White House chief of staff. RICHARD WALTERS: Deputy White House chief of staff and longtime Republican political operative. WALKER BARRETT: Senior White House adviser with extensive congressional experience. But the most consequential part of his accusation concerns the CORPORATE LOBBYING INDUSTRY. Before entering Trump's White House, Wiles had a career representing corporate clients, including working at the influential Washington lobbying firm BALLARD PARTNERS. And the money involved in that industry is staggering. According to federal lobbying disclosures, Ballard Partners collected approximately $88 MILLION in lobbying revenue during 2025, more than QUADRUPLING its reported revenue from 2024. That made Ballard one of the highest-earning lobbying operations in Washington. And in MAY 2025, the watchdog organization Public Citizen identified SIX FORMER WILES CLIENTS that had reported lobbying White House offices during the administration's first three months. Those clients included companies involved in tobacco, automobiles, fertilizer, and other major industries. The White House disputed suggestions of improper influence and said Wiles generally did not participate in meetings or decisions involving former clients. Those disclosures establish real corporate lobbying relationships. They do NOT, by themselves, prove that Wiles improperly favored those companies or directed policies for their benefit. But Means argues that the broader culture of Washington is precisely what Trump promised to confront. Now consider the extraordinary political timing. IMPORTANT NOTES: On NOVEMBER 3, Democrats won control of BOTH CHAMBERS OF CONGRESS in a sweeping midterm defeat for Republicans. And TODAY, NOVEMBER 6, Trump announced that Susie Wiles will leave the chief-of-staff position, with Stephen Miller taking over on November 9. Trump PRAISED Wiles for her service and said she would continue working for his political operation.