{"id":659107,"date":"2026-08-28T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=659107"},"modified":"2026-08-28T07:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T07:30:00","slug":"turkey-recruits-trump-insiders-for-new-washington-lobbying-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=659107","title":{"rendered":"Turkey Recruits Trump Insiders For New Washington Lobbying Push"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turkey Recruits Trump Insiders For New Washington Lobbying Push<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Via Middle East Eye<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Turkish\u00a0government hired a lobbying firm with close ties to\u00a0US\u00a0President Donald Trump earlier this month under a year-long contract worth $2.4m<\/strong>, according to US Justice Department filings reviewed by Middle East Eye.<\/p>\n

Ballard Partners, led by Brian Ballard, a prominent Florida Republican fundraiser<\/strong> who also worked on Trump\u2019s presidential campaign, signed the agreement with Turkey\u2019s Ministry of National Defense<\/strong> on August 8. The firm will receive $200,000 per month.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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via AFP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Under the contract, Ballard Partners pledged to provide \u201cgovernment relations services, strategic consulting and advocacy services\u201d<\/strong> before the federal government, and keep its client informed about developments in Congress and US policy.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time Ballard Partners has worked for Turkey.<\/p>\n

In 2017, during Trump\u2019s first term, Turkey\u00a0hired<\/a>\u00a0the firm under a $1.5m contract. It was one of Ballard Partners\u2019 first major deals in Washington after opening an office there.<\/p>\n

At the time, the firm\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0focused on the sanctions-evasion case against Turkish state-owned lender Halkbank<\/strong>. The Trump administration\u2019s Justice Department dropped the charges against the bank<\/strong> earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The new contract differs from the previous agreement because Turkey\u2019s defense ministry is the principal client. Ankara is seeking to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program after being removed in 2019 over its purchase of the\u00a0Russian-made S-400 air defense system<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Middle East Eye\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0last month that Ankara was considering selling the S-400 system to a third country, potentially the\u00a0United Arab Emirates<\/a>, in an effort to persuade Washington to lift sanctions against Turkey.<\/p>\n

Ankara also hopes to take delivery of six F-35s that were manufactured for Turkey but have remained in storage in the US for years.<\/p>\n

According to the Justice Department filings, the Ballard Partners team working for Turkey includes former Democratic congressman Robert Wexler of Florida<\/strong>, a prominent pro-Turkish voice who co-founded the Congressional Caucus on US-Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans in 2001<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Wexler is also president of the S Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace in Washington and is known for his connections to pro-Israel<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>circles.<\/p>\n

Another member of the team is Thomas Boodry, who served as a special assistant to Trump and senior director for legislative affairs at the National Security Council until April 2025<\/strong>. Boodry was dismissed amid the removal of former US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.<\/p>\n

Reports<\/a>\u00a0at the time suggested that Trump fired Boodry and five other officials shortly after meeting far-right activist Laura Loomer, who presented opposition research on several staff members and argued that they were disloyal to the president.<\/p>\n

\n

REPORTER: “Prime Minister Netanyahu opposes sending the F-35s to Turkey…”<\/p>\n

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Nobody tells me what we should be selling or not. Turkey has been a tremendous ally.” pic.twitter.com\/F0sdwvIYfE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 27, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The team also includes Syl Lukis, a senior partner at Ballard Partners and one of Ballard\u2019s closest associates.<\/p>\n

Bloomberg\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year that Ballard Partners\u2019 alums include White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.<\/p>\n

The firm generated more than $30m in federal lobbying revenue during the first quarter of 2026, more than any other firm on Washington\u2019s K Street<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 08\/28\/2026 – 03:30<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turkey Recruits Trump Insiders For New Washington Lobbying Push Via Middle East Eye The\u00a0Turkish\u00a0government hired a lobbying firm with close ties to\u00a0US\u00a0President Donald Trump earlier this month under a year-long contract worth $2.4m, according to US Justice Department filings reviewed by Middle East Eye. Ballard Partners, led by Brian Ballard, a prominent Florida Republican fundraiser… Continue reading Turkey Recruits Trump Insiders For New Washington Lobbying Push<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":659108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-659107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=659107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/659108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=659107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=659107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=659107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}