Ballard Partners, a lobbying company headed by a leading fundraiser for President Donald Trump, has more than tripled its quarterly lobbying gains compared with the exact period a year earlier, as businesses and organizations have sought assistance from a small group of firms allied to the new administration in trying to make sense of a second Trump administration characterized by turmoil and retribution.
The company will bring in $14 million of lobbying income for the first quarter of 2025, over two times the $6.2 million Ballard saw in the fourth quarter of 2024. Ballard recorded $4.2 million of lobbying income during the first quarter of 2024.
Several of K Street’s largest firms are yet to post first quarter revenues as of Monday night’s midnight reporting deadline, but Ballard’s totals will be right up at the top when the numbers finally appear. Starting a new administration normally is big money for the lobby industry — and K Street business was red hot before Trump returned to the presidency.
According to analysis, the company topped the income chart at year-end with $16.9 million in the fourth quarter, followed by runner-up Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which raked in $14.6 million during the quarter. In the first quarter of 2025, Brownstein’s revenue decreased to $16.8 million.
Florida lobbyist, Brian Ballard, also a longtime, opened a office in Washington for his firm soon after Trump’s first White House win in 2017 and quickly became one of the go-to company for corporations and trade groups looking to comprehend the mercurial political newcomer in the White House.
While the company has a number of Democratic lobbyists on its list, the firm’s business suffered under the Biden administration. Nevertheless, it was still in the top 20 of K Street firms, POLITICO’s analysis found.
Ballard’s ascent this year marks a cycle that occurs each time there is a change of power in Washington, as corporate America searches for an angle with an incoming president or congressional chief.
But that rhythm went into overdrive leading up to Trump’s second term. Ballard, along with a few other companies with strong connections to the administration, such as Miller Strategies, Mercury Public Affairs, Michael Best Strategies and Continental Strategies, have experienced a wave of new clients since November. Those players did not return requests for their first quarter figures.
But Ballard has revealed over 130 new lobbying clients since Election Day alone, including JPMorgan Chase, Chevron, Palantir, Netflix, Ripple Labs and the Business Roundtable.
The company also signed up to lobby on behalf of a number of individuals and organizations targeted for punishment by the Trump administration, including the Harvard University governing board, the Public Broadcasting Service and law organization Kirkland & Ellis.
Some of Ballard’s ex-lobbyists now carry senior positions in Trump’s second administration, including Pam Bondi, Attorney General and Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff.
Trent Morse, another Ballard alum, is the deputy director of personnel for Trump. The Florida origins of the firm also result in Ballard having ties to the Floridians who hold sway in Trump’s Washington, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
