Continental Strategy LLC, a fast-growing K Street firm with ties to the Trump administration, is bringing on a new lobbyist from Vice President JD Vance’s team.
Wesam H. Hassanein joins the shop Monday after serving as special adviser for the Middle East in Vance’s office and previously working at the State Department, the firm shared first with Bloomberg Government.
Continental Strategy, founded by
After about a decade in public-sector service, Hassanein, a native Arabic speaker, said he was looking to advance the firm’s presence in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. He will be based in Washington but plans to travel regularly, he said.
Hassanein said he made the decision to leave the government before US and Israel attacks on Iran began Feb. 28.
“I’m not leaving because I oppose the president’s decision on Iran — I’m 100% supportive of President Trump’s decision to deny Iran nuclear weapons,” he said. “We should have done what President Trump is doing years ago.”
Hassanein said working for the vice president and in the federal government had been “one of the greatest honors to serve the American people. I appreciate and am grateful for the vice president’s trust he has placed in me.”
Hassanein said he had multiple offers from K Street, but found Continental Strategy the right fit.
“Continental really, really stood out as family oriented, a family culture, with an excellent client base,” he said. “They are in total lockstep with the administration, working to advance America First policies.”
The firm, he said, has “access to the highest levels of the administration. That’s another thing that drew me to Continental.”
He called the all-Republican Continental Strategy “one of the heavy hitters in DC.”
At the State Department, Hassanein said he served in various roles including last year being part of the US technical team to the Iran negotiations that was led by Steve Witkoff, US Special Envoy to the Middle East.
He’ll bring that inside view to client work, he said.
“Given my experience at the White House and State, I’m very connected to top-level decision-makers, I know how the policies are being formulated,” Hassanein said.
A Growing Brand
The firm hauled in $27.7 million in 2025 from clients that included Anthropic PBC — which the administration labeled a supply chain risk — to the American Association of Homecare, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis of Lobbying Disclosure Act reports. That was up from $1.8 million in 2024.
Japan, Haiti, and Republic of Srpska are among the firm’s recent foreign clients, Foreign Agents Registration Act filings show.
American Continental has signed on at least 25 new federal domestic lobbying clients this year, lobbying records show.
“We’re obviously very proud of the growth that the firm has had,” said Trujillo, whose shop has offices in Washington, Florida, and Buenos Aires.
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