Linda McMahon

Linda McMahon served in Trump’s cabinet as the Administrator of the Small Business Association (SBA) from 2017 to 2019, and was seen as a “loyal foot soldier” inside the White House. A few days after she stepped down from the SBA, she was named Chair of America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC. Trump noted she would be helping him get re-elected and called McMahon a “superstar.” The New York Times named McMahon “one of Mr. Trump’s most prolific donors during the 2016 presidential campaign.” She is also listed as an independent director of Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social.

The deadly January 6 insurrection does not appear to have dampened McMahon’s support for Trump. She was chair of a group that funded the “Women for America First” group that planned the rally that preceded the violent insurrection. She has continued to help fundraise on Trump’s behalf and Forbes recently reported that she herself has donated more than $11 million to Trump groups.

During her tenure at the SBA its budget was cut 5%. McMahon claimed, “Through [the SBA’s] own efficiency, we were able to pretty much absorb those cuts,” despite reports that “the SBA would see a $12 million decrease in available grants for programs that provide education, resources and growth opportunities for small businesses.”

McMahon, a billionaire who has known Trump for 32 years, is a former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which she co-founded with her then-husband, Vince McMahon. He stepped down as chairman of WWE’s parent company earlier this year after a former employee filed a lawsuit accusing him of “serious sexual misconduct.” Two years prior, it was reported that Vince paid four potential victims of misconduct more than $12 million in hush money. The WWE board also found that year that Vince had secretly paid $5 million to the Trump Foundation in years that the future president appeared on WrestleMania.

Linda McMahon is the Chair of the Board and Chair of the Center for the American Worker for America First Policy Institute, a MAGA-aligned non-profit led by former Trump official Brooke Rollins that has been nicknamed Trump’s “administration in waiting.” Media Matters reported that in that role “she has written content attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion; minimum wage increases; and Biden’s record on labor policy.” In his 2022 book, Peter Navarro suggested Linda McMahon lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

McMahon was also a Republican nominee for U.S. Senate for Connecticut in 2010 and 2012, but she lost. She reportedly spent $100 million of her own money on the campaigns.