Donald Trump has 70 days to build a government and figure out how to run it, but some of his allies are spending the early days of his transition plotting revenge against those they believe slighted Trump — and them.

Since Trump’s shocking upset victory in Tuesday’s presidential election, several people who worked on his team have discussed ways to punish Republicans who were hostile to the New York billionaire’s anti-establishment campaign, including blocking them from administration or transition posts, or lucrative consulting work, according to a handful of people involved in the conversations.


They say that Republicans who opposed — or were seen as insufficiently supportive of — Trump have had their entreaties rejected by people around the president-elect, some of whom have expressed wonderment that former bitter critics are now asking for jobs, lobbying leads and even Inauguration tickets.

“My phone is ringing off the hook with people who were on the outs asking how they can get into Trump world,” said one operative who worked with Trump’s campaign. “I’m telling them there is no f---ing way they’re getting inside.”

Even before Trump shocked the political world on Tuesday, one leading Republican policy adviser recalled being told second-hand that he was “non grata” within Trump Tower for his outspoken criticism of the real estate showman-turned-candidate.

And the website seen as the unofficial news organ of Trump World, Breitbart News — which was co-founded by Trump’s campaign chairman and possible White House chief of staff Steve Bannon — has signaled that it intends to continue its crusade against House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump clashed throughout the campaign with Ryan, whose support for Trump wavered between nonexistent and tepid, though the president-elect and House speaker have presented a united front since the election, praising one another after a Thursday meeting on Capitol Hill.

A source close to Trump stressed that the president-elect’s team is willing to work with Republicans who backed Trump’s rivals in the GOP primary, and even those who occasionally called out Trump — but added that some crossed a line.

“It’s one thing not to have been for him or to have had a disagreement, but if you went out of your way to be an asshole, then we’re not going to be helpful,” the source said.

The source suggested that Trump’s political operation would steer business away from Republicans who were involved in the #NeverTrump effort to block Trump from the GOP nomination. Comparing one of the effort’s leading operatives to a Hollywood actor who threatened to leave the country if Trump was elected, the source said, “Katie Packer should see if Bryan Cranston has an extra room in Canada.”

Packer responded by cracking that she “fully expected to be rounded up and sent to a detention camp, so if that's the best they've got, then that's a relief!” More seriously, she suggested that “if Trump allows sentiments like that to go unchecked,” it will undermine his claim during his victory speech early Wednesday that he wants to unite the country after the divisive election.

Tactically, the desire for revenge among some Trump allies could run headlong into the stark reality that the president-elect now faces. His transition team is scrambling to recruit thousands of people to fill administration positions — posts that require expertise of the sort that is prevalent among the Republican professional class.

But many in that orbit kept their distance from Trump and some have signaled they’re still unwilling to work for him, which limits the pool from which he can draw, even without proactively excluding others. Meanwhile, many in Trump’s relatively small group of loyalists lack relevant high-level government experience or relationships with veteran policy or political professionals.

To be sure, it’s common for incoming presidents to steer plum administration or political gigs to their supporters, and away from those who opposed them.

But, while new administrations typically mete out revenge and rewards in subtle ways, Trump’s style is anything but subtle.

He has openly litigated grievances against a range of perceived enemies — from business rivals to journalists to politicians — for all manner of perceived slights.

Some of Trump's advisers have been urging him to cool his penchant for retaliation, and one told POLITICO he seems receptive.

But some of Trump’s closest confidants also are known for aggressively prosecuting their own rivalries. That includes Bannon, who in December 2015 emailed a Breitbart editor about working to oust Ryan from the speakership, as well as former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who is being discussed as a possible chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Bannon did not respond to a request for comment, while Lewandowski rejected the suggestion that he was interested in punishing former rivals, and said he has not discussed any job with Trump.

Trump spokesman Jason Miller disputed the notion that either the president-elect or anyone in a decision-making role on his team was prosecuting grudges.

“None of this is true,” Miller said, arguing that this publication was in fact prosecuting its own grudge by “making up stories to fit their agenda.”

A different campaign source elaborated “there is not and never will be a blacklist. Trump is focused on talent like any CEO. The swamp games won’t apply in his administration.” The source added, though, that Trump “is known for loyalty, and you can expect his supporters to be eager to be a part of his team.”

And, in fact, one person who feuded bitterly with Trump during the campaign was assured Thursday morning by a top Trump aide that the president-elect had no interest in pursuing the vendetta.

Yet, it’s clear that some of Trump’s supporters and staff feel that retribution is warranted against parts of the GOP establishment that cast Trump and his supporters as a cancer on the party from the beginning of the race.

Talk about revenge began percolating among Trump supporters at his victory party on Tuesday night at the Midtown Manhattan Hilton. Former “Apprentice” contestant Omarosa Manigault, one of Trump’s leading surrogates, told a reporter for Independent Journal Review that Trump’s team was grateful that “our enemies are making themselves clear so that when we get in to the White House, we know where we stand.” She added: “Mr. Trump has a long memory and we’re keeping a list.”



And in recent days, a handful of operatives who worked for Trump suggested that any discrimination against prior opponents was fair game because during the campaign, Trump’s team members were the ones being called names (including “Trumptard”) and threatened with blacklisting by establishment Republicans.

“The people who worked on the campaign, and the convention too, put a lot on the line," said one operative who worked on the convention. "We were told this would be a black mark on our careers we couldn’t come back from. We were scorned. The establishment was going to remember. For some people that was a big professional risk — never mind the personal relationships it strained. People who worked on the campaign or convention damn well deserve the first look if they want it.”

Nancy Cook, Alex Isenstadt and Shane Goldmacher contributed to this report.