A New York Times report raises questions about what two of US President Donald Trump’s top political operatives were doing during a visit to pro-Russian politician Milorad Dodik in Bosnia and Herzegovina ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
James Blair and Chris Lacivita advised Dodik and were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their work, according to sources cited by US newspapers.
The revelation sparked a wave of criticism from within the Republican Party. Mr. Blair currently runs Mr. Trump’s main fundraising organization, MAGA Inc., and Mr. Lacivita is a senior adviser to Mr. Trump.
Blair and LaCivita, who previously served as Trump’s deputy chief of staff, did not comment on the trip.
Here’s what we know so far:
Who is Milorad Dodik?
Bosnian Serbs are pro-Russian politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He last met Russian President Vladimir Putin for a very friendly meeting in Moscow on September 29, just five days before Bosnia and Herzegovina’s general elections.
Last November, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s highest court, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Court, upheld Dodik’s ban from officially running in the October 4 elections this year after a Sarajevo court convicted him of refusing to abide by the decision of the international envoy overseeing the country’s peace deal.
The former president of the Bosnian Autonomous Serb Republic (Republika Srpska) was sentenced to one year in prison in February for rebelling against German diplomat Christian Schmidt, who was responsible for upholding the 1995 peace deal that ended the Bosnian war in the 1990s.
He was banned from holding political office for six years and stripped of his presidential position.
Nevertheless, Dodik campaigned. His pro-Russian, nationalist Girls’ Generation continued to celebrate major victories on many levels. It won more than 55% of the vote in local elections and maintained a strong grip on power in the Serb-majority Republika Srpska.
Dodik has led Republika Srpska since 1998, with brief interruptions. He has advocated secession from the organization established in 1995 under the Dayton Peace Accords and eventual integration with neighboring Serbia, a position that has raised fears of new conflicts at home and in the wider region.
Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina was achieved in 1995 under pressure from the administration of US President Bill Clinton after four years of bloody conflict and genocide against Bosniak Muslims at a US military base in Dayton, Ohio. The agreement thus became known as the Dayton Peace Accords.
Ironically, Dodik came to power with the support of the US government as an alternative to the Serbian nationalists who dominated politics at the time. Madeleine Albright, then US Secretary of State, famously described him as a “breath of fresh air” in the Balkans.
However, Dodik soon turned against US interests and moved closer to Russia. When Donald Trump returned to power in 2025, he again sought to forge closer ties with Washington. During the 2024 US election campaign, he was seen wearing a MAGA hat.
It appears he achieved at least part of his goal. He was under U.S. sanctions for years for his role in destabilizing Bosnia and Herzegovina, but those sanctions were lifted this year. The Trump administration said the measure was pragmatic and aimed at easing tensions within the country. In return, Dodik repealed several unconstitutional laws.
How did President Trump’s key advisers end up working for Dodik?
The New York Times reported that James Blair and Chris Racivita were hired through a Washington law firm owned by the government of Republika Srpska.
Each received hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to sources cited by the newspaper.
According to documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice, Republika Srpska has paid more than $4 million since the beginning of 2025 to lobbyists and political operatives connected to President Trump for lobbying activities.
The issue of Republika Srpska’s use of public funds to pay lobbying companies also recently came before the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On September 25, the Court ruled that Republika Srpska’s lobbying and activities are not in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as their objectives are contrary to the Constitution, the decisions of the Constitutional Court, or Bosnia and Herzegovina’s institutions.
Ivana Korajic from Transparency International told Al Jazeera that Republika Srpska will not stop lobbying, “it will just be presented in a different way.”
Rachivita previously worked as a political campaign strategist for Sali Berisha, one of the most influential Albanian politicians of the post-socialist era, in the run-up to last year’s Albanian general elections.
Berisha is a former president (1992-1997) and prime minister (2005-2013) of Albania, and is currently the leader of Albania’s center-right opposition party, the Democratic Party.
The administration of former US President Joe Biden banned Berisha from entering the US in 2021, citing corruption and misuse of public funds. Berisha denied the charges.
In June of this year, during President Trump’s second term, it was reported that the United States lifted the travel ban on Trump and his family, as well as Dodik.
How did the Republican Party react to President Trump’s advisor’s visit to Republika Srpska?
The news sparked a reaction within the Republican Party, especially because of its timing.
Prime Minister Blair and Mr Racivita were in Republika Srpska at a time when President Trump’s political operations were focused on the final stages of campaigning for the US midterm parliamentary elections. Republicans are not doing well among voters amid the war against Iran, which polls show is deeply unpopular in the United States.
Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon called Blair and Lacivita “fraudsters” and called for a detailed review of the funds they received, Politico reported.
What did Donald Trump say?
Mr. Trump initially denied knowing of Mr. Blair and Mr. Lacivita’s other involvements and said he would ask who else they worked for. He added that if a conflict of interest is found, he will be immediately fired.
Later, in the Oval Office, President Trump softened his remarks in response to questions from reporters.
Trump said there was no real conflict of interest because Blair and Lacivita are not currently White House staffers and are allowed to have multiple clients as consultants.
Why would Dodik hire a Trump political operative?
It’s unclear what Mr. Dodik stands to gain by hiring someone close to Mr. Trump.
Aleksandar Trifunovic, editor of Banja Luka’s Buka magazine, said he saw no concrete results from their work advising Dodik.
“I don’t see anything that would allow me to say, ‘This is what they taught him and this is why he won the election.’ Dodik’s rhetoric hasn’t changed. It’s been similar to MAGA rhetoric for a long time. But for Mr. Dodik , it was important for him to be able to say that Trump’s people were working for him. So what Dodik paid and what he got was access to Trump through Trump’s associates,” Trifunovic told Al Jazeera.
Mr. Trifunovic said he views the answer to why Mr. Trump’s political operatives work for Mr. Dodik through the lens of the pragmatic nature of the U.S. political system. The American lobbying system is relatively transparent.
“The more money you give, the more support you get,” he said.
But Trifunovich noted that Dodik’s ties to Trump’s political circles are particularly important given his ties to Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The main criticism is actually something else. How can President Trump’s people have good relations with someone who has such close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin? You can’t be both Trump and Putin at the same time. That’s definitely not a great future,” Trifunovich said.
What impact could this have on Trump and Dodik’s relationship?
There is a broader context to Dodik’s ties to Trump politics.
Mirjan Kovac, an editor and political commentator from Nevešinje in southeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, said President Trump and the Republican Party gave Dodik political space after years of U.S. sanctions against him, his family and associates.
The lifting of sanctions against Dodik last October was justified by the US government as a pragmatic step aimed at easing tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Dodik was clearly negotiating with the US government in his own way,” Kovacs told Al Jazeera.
On election night, after declaring victory for his Girls’ Generation group, Dodik himself spoke about the importance of Trump’s return to the American political scene.
“If it weren’t for Trump’s stunning victory, we would probably be political corpses today. But thanks to the new environment, we are now political winners,” Dodik said.
