Trump 'worked behind the scenes' to change GOP primary rules to help him coast to victory: report

Former President Donald Trump's strategists have pushed a series of rules in the Republican primary process that makes it disproportionately easy for him to win delegates in the primary contest, reported POLITICO on Friday.

According to Rachel Bade, loyalists to Trump have "worked behind the scenes" and have been "quietly reaching out to allies" in states to both alter rules in ways that make it easier for Trump, or stop rule changes that would hurt him.

For example, Trump strategists beat back a proposal to award delegates proportionally in California, leaving the state with winner-takes-all rules that are highly likely to let Trump run away with the state. They also persuaded Idaho and Nevada to use caucuses instead of primaries, hoping more enthusiastic Trump supporters will hijack the process, and have adopted or are proposing rules in Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Colorado that require delegates to back the state's nominee on the second ballot if the first ballot doesn't choose a candidate.

The effort has sharply polarized Republican officials. “He who controls the rules controls the process. You control process, you win,” Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita told POLITICO. “We’re basically guarding our flanks. We’re stopping any monkey business if they want to do it like Cruz did in 2016.” Ken Cuccinelli, a former Trump operative who later helped found Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' super PAC, complained, “They’re looking to rig the system in their favor. They’re going in and strong-arming the [GOP] committees.”

This comes after conservative commentators have sounded the alarm that the Republican National Committee itself is making decisions in Trump's favor, including debate qualification rules that some candidates have accused of being overly favorable to the former president.

Even without inbuilt advantages in primary rules, Trump is currently a prohibitive favorite to win the nomination, with polls showing him leading DeSantis, his closest rival, by roughly 30 points — and no sign of him slipping with primary voters despite multiple criminal indictments.