Joe Ricketts. Joe Ricketts, local news publisher and Trump backer, acquires Gothamist websites

DNAinfo, a local news company owned by the Republican mega-donor and Trump backer Joe Ricketts, will announce Wednesday morning that it has reached an agreement to buy Gothamist, which publishes a network of websites in cities from New York to Washington to L.A.

As part of the deal, Gothamist's flagship website covering New York will become the "official blog" of DNAinfo's New York operation, which covers neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs. Likewise, Chicagoist will become the same for DNAinfo's Chicago operation. The sister sites in Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco will remain independent, and several international editions that license the Gothamist brand will be unaffected by the sale.

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Terms of the deal were not disclosed and the principals declined to confirm the price, but it is believed to be in the low seven figures. The merger follows a handful of layoffs, reported first by POLITICO, that hit DNAinfo late last month. As the two staffs, numbering in the dozens, are merged, it's possible there could be further downsizing in store, but a spokesman for DNAinfo wouldn't comment on the potential for future cuts.

Gothamist debuted in 2003 and became a popular news and culture blog in New York before expanding to other cities. Co-founders Jen Chung and Jake Dobkin will assume senior executive positions at DNAinfo, reporting to newly promoted executive vice president and chief operating officer Dan Swartz.

Ricketts, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade (who developed an interest in local news in recent years), created DNAinfo as a New York website in 2009 and imported the brand to Chicago three years later. The site is well-respected in New York journalism circles.

As far as politically active moguls go, Ricketts enjoyed a relatively low profile until his efforts aimed at defeating Barack Obama in 2012 came to light. The Ricketts family, which owns the Chicago Cubs, clashed with Trump when they opposed him during the primaries. But in the fall, Ricketts reportedly pledged at least $1 million to a Trump super PAC, and Trump nominated his son Todd as deputy commerce secretary.

Ricketts has promised editorial independence for his newsrooms, and since their scope is so local, his views on national politics generally don't intersect with the types of stories they cover.

Though he doesn't grant interviews, Ricketts said of Gothamist in a statement provided to POLITICO, "Their experience in developing multiple city blogs fits right in with our vision for future expansion. We think the result will be the most potent online source of neighborhood news and information available anywhere.”