Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley's allegations that chaos follows former president Donald Trump wherever he goes are proving to be unfounded. Aside from the circus of indictments, if the poll numbers, endorsements, and wins in both the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary are any indication, the Trump 2024 re-election machine appears to be well-oiled and chugging along smoothly.

In particular, the endorsements have been almost lockstep, showing a unified Republican Party backing without reservation the person whom they assume will be the presumptive nominee. 

Something shocking — and telling — has unfolded beyond Donald Trump's onstage, online and courtroom theatrics: He's running a professional, well-managed, disciplined presidential campaign.

• His 2024 operation is more sophisticated — dare we say traditional — than the slapdash improvisation of his White House and two previous runs.

Why it matters: Trump likely will wrap up the nomination in record time, with almost universal GOP establishment backing.

• If he were to win — and run the White House like he has his campaign — he could reshape America and its government more quickly, and in more lasting ways, than he did during his first term.

This is the antithesis to 2016, where the titular heads of the Republican Party at that time, the Bush Dynasty, refused to even endorse Trump. If you read Axios and other legacy publications, this reshaping of America and the government is a scary concept because... it's Trump. But there seems to be much seriousness surrounding this not just from the Trump 2024 campaign, but from the grassroots and establishment organizations that make up the conservative apparatus in D.C. 

Let's compare and contrast some of the pitfalls in 2016 and 2020 that appear to be nonexistent in 2024.

In 2016, Trump's campaign front people were Corey Lewandowski, Kellyanne Conway, and Paul Manafort. As many remember, their professional and personal troubles led the news as much as the candidate, with Conway's then-marriage to rabid Never Trumper George Conway providing fodder and entertainment for Democrats and the Left. 

Enter Susie Wiles, a former political advisor to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who, in 2020, was instrumental to Trump's landslide electoral win in the state. According to reports, Wiles and DeSantis parted ways, and not on good terms. Enter 2024, where Trump welcomed Wiles onto his campaign, and she, along with retired Marine and campaign soldier Chris LaCivita, and senior adviser Brian Jack are running a very tight ship. 

Despite some internal tensions, the team is described as disciplined and cohesive, with a focus on diverse perspectives to inform Trump’s decisions.

“Chris LaCivita was a newer addition to Trump’s effort. New additions have become increasingly less frequent in Trump-world as demonstrated loyalty and trust are viewed as the most important attributes,” the report noted.

“LaCivita, now campaign manager alongside Wiles, is a veteran Republican strategist in Virginia, once serving as political director for the National Republican Senate Committee.”

“Despite his more recent entrance to the team, he’s managed to uphold the same loyalty as those with longer-spanning relationships with the former president.”

In an Axios exclusive, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen assert that none of them have been in the spotlight, nor do they want it. 

[T]hey put in place a methodical process for Republicans to seek Trump's endorsement for congressional and statewide offices. This machine gave Trump leverage with rising stars throughout the party, along with extensive data about their home-state political operations.

• Trump campaign staff members get along, stay in their lanes and don't leak like sieves — all dramatic changes from his past operations.
• The campaign saves endorsements for opportune unveiling times. Aides have spreadsheets to track what material they've sent to which reporters.

There is also a unified front from conservative organizations in 2024. In 2016, organizations were either agnostic, mum, or rabidly anti-Trump. Heritage Foundation has formed the 2025 Project, and is already building a conservative transition team ahead of a Trump presidential win. In partnership with the Alabama Policy Institute, American Accountability Foundation, the Heartland Institute, Media Research Center, and Project 21, to name a few, these organizations are vetting personnel and looking across the spectrum of D.C. to ensure allies are placed strategically to support a Trump administration. 

So they are not only working to avoid the 2017 mistakes of former New Jersey governor Chris Christie (who initially headed Trump's 2016 transition team), Omarosa Manigault, Steve Bannon, and Jeff Sessions. But they are also looking to bypass mistakes like General Mark Milley and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. Project 2025 is covering all the bases, according to their mission statement.

The actions of liberal politicians in Washington have created a desperate need and unique opportunity for conservatives to start undoing the damage the Left has wrought and build a better country for all Americans in 2025.

It is not enough for conservatives to win elections. If we are going to rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left, we need both a governing agenda and the right people in place, ready to carry this agenda out on day one of the next conservative administration.

With not having to play referee with campaign personalities jockeying for position, and a potential presidential administration in conservative hands, Trump can do what he does best: Be Trump. Voters no longer seem to care about the mean tweets (now Truth Social posts) or hyperbole and bombast, when you have a sitting President who seems to be driving the country toward a new Civil War and cannot string words together.

And the lawsuits? The E. Jean Carroll one is finished, and Trump is liable for millions. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Wills is imploding under her own corruption, and as our Deputy Managing Editor Susie Moore surmises, the March 4 trial date in the Jack Smith-engineered indictment appears on life support. Half of Republican voters could not care less, and a good majority of the other half that backed Gov. DeSantis or another candidate will more than likely come around.

Instead, many of his supporters have become convinced that Trump is a victim of a political witch hunt. At least half of Republicans surveyed by Reuters/Ipsos earlier this year said they would have no problem voting for Trump even if he were convicted of a crime.

Trump can also point to his four years in office and argue that the machinery of government largely functioned, if at times chaotically, despite fears he could not govern and that the worst allegations about him - such as his colluding with Russia - were never proven.

Even if Michelle Obama swoops in to save the Democrat Party, the winds in 2024 may well be blowing in Trump's favor. The combination of a surprisingly disciplined campaign, his folk-hero status, those inspirational rallies buttressed by solid policies that worked before (hello, Southern Border), could sweep him back into the Oval Office.