By Alayna Treene, Kevin Liptak

(CNN) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday distanced himself from two of his top political advisers — less than 30 days before the midterm elections — writing that if their outside work presents a conflict, “I will terminate them, immediately!”

Trump’s warning came after The New York Times published a report detailing how James Blair, one of the president’s former deputy chiefs of staff who now leads his outside political operation, and Chris LaCivita, Trump’s 2024 co-campaign manager, traveled to the Balkans last week for paid work on behalf of a pro-Russian government.

Trump, who has been actively campaigning for Republicans ahead of November’s midterms, suggested he had nothing to do with his advisers’ lucrative work outside the United States.

“Chris LaCivita and James Blair are outside consultants. They do not work for me, other than as outside consultants. They most likely have numerous clients, but for that, you would have to ask them,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday.

According to the Times, Blair and LaCivita traveled to Republika Srpska, a territory in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ahead of elections there on Sunday. The trip came as polls show Republicans are facing severe electoral challenges in the United States.

“They are allowed to do work for others, just like all consultants in Washington, D.C. I do not have any idea who else they work for but will, on reflection, ask them and, if there’s a conflict, I will terminate them, immediately!” Trump wrote.

Blair and LaCivita “were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each through a Washington-based law firm that was retained by Republika Srpska’s government to provide counsel on voting issues,” the Times reported.

They said the work was for the government and not the nationalist party that controls it, though they are essentially one and the same.

Blair currently leads Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., and has been tasked with heading up the president’s midterm elections strategy. LaCivita is a senior adviser at MAGA Inc.

The group has been spending tens of millions of dollars trying to bolster Republican candidates ahead of the midterms, including some in reliably red territory who now appear vulnerable.

The-CNN-Wire
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