NEWS RSS Streams

The right-wing activist Laura Loomer has been paid by private clients to make political posts on social media without publicly disclosing the payments, according to a former campaign aide to President Donald Trump and three others familiar with the arrangements, shedding light on what they say is a business practice of one of the Trump administration's most influential online firebrands.

The allegations were made by Alex Bruesewitz, an adviser to Trump's 2024 campaign, and three other people who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Two of the three people said they had paid Loomer directly to post political messages on her X account, where she has 1.9 million followers. The third said they had overseen clients who paid her to post on the account. The three spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.

Bank transaction emails and a wire transfer statement reviewed by The Washington Post appear to show four payments totaling more than $60,000 sent to Loomer and a Florida-based company registered in her name, King Breaker Media, since May of last year.

The documents do not specify the purpose of the payments, but two people familiar with the arrangements said they were for political posts.

Loomer, one of Trump's best-known online acolytes, denied to The Post that she is paid to post on social media. She instead described herself as a journalist and activist and disputed the idea that she is an influencer paid to promote any political cause.

The new claims about Loomer's influence business could add fuel to a growing debate about the little-regulated industry of political messaging on social media, where influencers on both sides of the aisle have operated in a legal gray area between advocacy and advertising.

Bruesewitz first posted his allegations on X on Thursday. Many of the details about Loomer's alleged online influence operation have not been previously reported.

Bruesewitz said in an interview with The Post that he had paid Loomer for tweets last year. He said the money had been sent through his political consulting firm, X Strategies, for posts related to policy issues. He declined to specify what clients.

Despite brokering these deals himself, he believes that they should require clearer disclosures and have "gotten out of hand."

Loomer disputed Bruesewitz's account and said that his firm contacted her last year offering to pay her for research.

"He paid me to make a one-page research document for him, and then he wanted me to distribute the information. And that's what I did," Loomer said. Asked where she was expected to distribute the research, she said, "Either X or maybe an article."

When asked how that was different from being paid to tweet, Loomer said she had actually been told to create the research document but that Bruesewitz had said he would have it distributed.

Loomer accused Bruesewitz of "lashing out" at her because of her political beliefs.

Bruesewitz and the three other people declined to publicly share the tweets they said Loomer had published to maintain the privacy of their clients. But The Post reviewed a selection of the tweets under the condition that they not be revealed publicly.

Two of the people said that Loomer charges $3,000 to $5,000 per tweet, and sometimes more.

Loomer said she does not have set pricing for consulting work. "I certainly don't charge $5,000 for a tweet," she said.

The four people who had paid or oversaw payments to Loomer for posting political statements on social media said she is an effective, if sometimes unpredictable, messenger and a key way of trying to get a line directly to Trump.

Jared Holt, a senior researcher at Open Measures, a platform that measures the spread of online extremism and disinformation, agreed. "This is somebody that has a tremendous amount of influence and access to the president's ear," said Holt, who studies the far right.

Loomer said in an interview Thursday night that she could not discuss the terms of her work with most of her clients due to confidentiality agreements and the fact that her accountant handled her invoices.

"I'm not some influencer that makes money from tweeting. My business is public affairs and opposition research," she said. "I also have a media company. It's not illegal to make a living in America."

Roughly one hour after The Post discussed the claims with Loomer, she announced on X that she is taking a hiatus from her online show, "Loomer Unleashed," so she could pursue a more "healthy work life balance" and prepare for her upcoming wedding.

"I just need to step back, recharge, refocus, and be present in my own life and my own mind with peace and clarity for a little while," she wrote. Loomer said the announcement had been scheduled in advance.

Loomer, 33, has traveled with Trump and met privately with him in the Oval Office during his second term in office. Detractors within the administration have taken issue with Loomer's relationship to the president and have lamented that several high-ranking defense and national security officials have been dismissed after she has publicly rebuked them, often on her X account.

Trump last year called Loomer a "very nice person" and a "patriot." After the White House fired aides on the National Security Council staff last year whom Loomer had accused of disloyalty, Trump denied that she was involved in the dismissal but acknowledged she had made some firing recommendations and said, "Sometimes I listen to those recommendations."

The White House declined to comment.

The Federal Trade Commission requires bloggers, influencers and other online figures to disclose when they have been paid to endorse a product, but the agency doesn't have jurisdiction over political ads.

Some advocacy groups have called for stronger regulations around paid political content. The Campaign Legal Center last year petitioned the Federal Election Commission to consider requiring "paid for by" disclosures on influencers' political posts, saying they could help voters better assess the content they see online. California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed legislation that will penalize influencers who post paid political messages without disclosure.

The general lack of transparency among political influencers, Holt said, "further degrades confidence in what people see online and how genuine it may be, or how representative it may actually be of the communities that these various influencers purport to speak for."

Loomer has frequently said her bulldog advocacy reflects her genuine views, telling The Bulwark in May 2025 that she was "not paid for [her] posts."

One person who said they had paid Loomer to tweet on behalf of clients said she was deliberate in her work and would only tweet if she agreed with the position. The person said not every client wanted to work with her because they believed she was polarizing but that some had hired her assuming she had an audience in the White House.

The person added, however, that Loomer was like a "nuclear bomb." "You have to be careful how to use that," they said. "It's effective but also turns a lot of things to s--- if you're not careful."

Loomer said she took that as a compliment. "I'm glad people find me to be effective and think I have a good reach," she said. "I'm not going to apologize for monetizing the fact that people fear me."

Related Content

This article originally appeared on Washington Post at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-ally-loomer-paid-thousands-164702283.html

A 21-year-old South African-born Wisconsin State Patrol trooper who was detained Nov. 5 by federal immigration agents was released from custody Nov. 6, according to his attorney.

Attorney Marc Christopher confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe, who was traveling to visit family with a valid work permit, had been released from the Dodge County Jail and was awaiting a ride from his supervisor, the head trooper in Tomah.

Christopher said Van Der Merwe was released under an order of supervision, which requires him to periodically check in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He will also likely be subject to electronic monitoring, potentially through an application on his cellphone rather than an ankle bracelet.

Christopher said he plans to speak with Van Der Merwe to discuss the next steps in his case. He expects Van Der Merwe will eventually share his experience publicly but wants to give him time to readjust following his release.

"I just told him I wanted him to get back, get reacclimated, just get settled, because I know he's gone through a very dramatic experience," Christopher said.

Van Der Merwe came to the U.S. from South Africa with his family on visas at age 14, Christopher said. His family has been waiting seven years for their asylum case to be heard.

Earlier, Christopher slammed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for detaining a Wisconsin law enforcement officer who has permission to work, saying he was "flabbergasted" by the agents' decision to use its resources to target Van Der Merwe.

"I almost can't even believe that they would be so brazen as to do this. But they are," Christopher said. "There's no reason for them to detain him other than to indiscriminately pick up as many people as they can."

Van Der Merwe, who lived in New Mexico with his family, wanted to serve in the U.S. military, but could not because he was not a permanent resident, Christopher said. He graduated with a degree in criminal justice in New Mexico, then researched states where he could do similar work with his status and found Wisconsin.

Van Der Merwe was living in Onalaska and working in Tomah for the Wisconsin State Patrol over the past year. His work authorization is valid until 2030.

Attorney disputes ICE's assertion about legal status

ICE's argument is that Van Der Merwe – as a teenager in the U.S. with his family – overstayed his visitor's visa.

"He entered the country in March 2019 with legal permission to stay until September 2019. In defiance of our nation’s laws, he overstayed his admission," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement. "Work authorization or a pending application do not confer legal status in the U.S."

Christopher pushed back on that assertion.

"That is just absurd and ridiculous," Christopher said. "They've been here lawfully. They have been waiting for their application to be adjudicated and to be decided by immigration."

The family, who are White South Africans, had applied for asylum on the grounds they were persecuted. A family member had been attacked, Christopher said.

Van Der Merwe did not decide to come to the U.S. himself, as he was brought by his parents, and he chose a career in law enforcement to serve his new country, Christopher said.

ICE agents detained him Nov. 5 at the Dane County Regional Airport just after he went through security, Christopher said. He was traveling to visit his family in New Mexico. Agents handcuffed him, shackled his legs and put him in a van and drove him to Dodge County Jail, which holds ICE detainees.

Christopher said it seems that the Transportation Security Administration tipped off ICE when he bought his ticket, and agents met Van Der Merwe at the airport. Christopher has heard of ICE making arrests at the Milwaukee and Appleton airports through similar tip-offs, he said.

Lawyer hopes Congress changes the way ICE can operate

Under the Trump administration, ICE has not been setting bond for detainees voluntarily unless a judge orders it. Trump administration policy changes have made many detainees ineligible to even seek bond and leave detention.

Christopher said he hopes Wisconsin's congressional delegation takes note of the case and institutes changes to the way ICE can operate. He was critical that ICE would use its resources to arrest Van Der Merwe, then hold him in custody.

"You're going to use your resources to go after this guy? You're going to use our tax dollars to detain this guy? It doesn't make any sense," Christopher said.

As part of its summer surge in street arrests in Milwaukee, ICE arrested a 20-year-old Milwaukee man, Giovanni Sosa, who had lived in the U.S. since age 4. In detaining him, ICE gave him paperwork that said – at age 4 – he had overstayed his visa. Sosa spent a month in detention at the Dodge County Jail as he waited for the chance to post bond.

Sophie Carson is a general assignment reporter who reports on religion and faith, immigrants and refugees and more. Contact her at scarson@gannett.com or 920-323-5758.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wisconsin trooper released from ICE custody after 'dramatic experience'

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/11/07/wisconsin-trooper-released-from-ice-custody/92660641007/