Gov. Jeff Landry has been forging connections with President Donald Trump and the rest of Trumpworld since well before he was governor.
Don Jr. has been a guest at Landry’s annual alligator hunt fundraiser, reportedly jumping into the swamp in 2018 and helping to soft-launch Landry’s campaign for governor in 2022.
And while there’s plenty of competition in the GOP, few elected officials can claim to be a bigger supporter of the president. When Trump won a second term, Landry took a victory lap, raising a MAGA flag at the Governor’s Mansion.
Meanwhile, Louisiana’s own U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who represent an unprecedented concentration of power for such a small state, also have been loyal foot soldiers for Trump.
Elsewhere back home, whether they voted for Trump or not, Louisiana politicos hope those relationships pay off for the state over the next few years.
“I think we’re in an enviable position when it comes to helping craft policy,” says Sen. Jeremy Stine, who chairs the Republican delegation in his chamber. “It’s still important to bring home the bacon.”
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From a policy standpoint, Landry and his Republican supermajority are almost entirely in lockstep with Trump, though Louisiana hasn’t necessarily been following in his footsteps. In fact, one could argue that the national political climate has shifted to reflect the conservative priorities of Louisiana and other Southern states, not the other way around.
“I believe that the Trump administration is inspired by a lot of what we’re doing,” Stine says.
When you look at the executive orders Trump has been issuing at breakneck speed, in many cases, from banning trans athletes in female sports to calling for “patriotic education,” Louisiana got there first.
Asked about Trump policies that have trickled down to Louisiana, lawmakers invariably cite DOGE, the Elon Musk-led effort to cut government spending that they say inspired Landry’s Fiscal Responsibility Program. Brent Littlefield, Landry’s longtime political adviser, tends to bristle a bit at that suggestion, saying the program’s roots go back to Landry’s efforts to find efficiencies in the attorney general’s office.
Legislators have not begun filing bills yet for the 2025 session, so it’s too soon to say how much Trump-inspired legislation we will see.
“I think there will be more tone-setting on the federal level that Gov. Landry will support and this Republican Legislature will support,” Sen. Blake Miguez says, adding that dealing with illegal immigration could be a potential subject area.
Rep. Mark Wright, who chairs the House Republican delegation, expects to see bills based on model legislation by conservative organizations as usual, but wasn’t sure of anything specific. He said he is working on cryptocurrency legislation that is similar to a proposal currently being considered on Capitol Hill.
“I think Trump has a tendency to surprise people with policy occasionally,” Wright adds.
To be sure, prominent voices in Louisiana have raised issues with some of Trump’s actions and statements, some more loudly than others.
Landry, State Treasurer John Fleming, Senate President Cameron Henry and House Speaker Phillip DeVillier issued a joint statement in late January following the announcement of a federal funding pause (which itself was paused by a federal judge) in which they expressed both support and concern, asking the administration “to develop a responsible runway to untangle us from any unnecessary and egregious policies without jeopardizing the financial stability of the state.”
Democratic Congressmen Troy Carter and Cleo Fields both blasted the administration’s pause as illegal.
LSU President William Tate last week likewise warned that changes to National Institutes of Health funding, part of the administration’s efforts to cut spending, could lead to “crippling financial shortfalls” for research universities and jeopardize “critical research on cancer, metabolic diseases, brain injuries, and toxic exposure” at LSU.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
