Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) is an unconventional leading ally for President Donald Trump. As Trump prepared to return to Washington, plenty of Republicans with higher profiles and deeper pockets were jockeying to be his congressional facilitator-in-chief.
To understand Mullin’s rise from congressman to senator to Trump confidant, it must be recognized this isn’t a relationship built on politics — rather one forged in the deeply personal throes of a tragedy deferred.
In early 2020, Mullin’s 15-year-old son, Jim, suffered a life-threatening blow to the head while wrestling, his pulse faint as paramedics airlifted him to a Tulsa hospital. When Trump learned what Mullin’s family was facing, he began calling.
He never stopped.
“He was at rehab for 18 months,” Mullin said in an interview with Bloomberg Government on Capitol Hill. “The president called every week. He flew to Bakersfield, California, to see him. He offered to help us financially, which we didn’t need, but he offered to help us financially with it. He still asks about him. Every time we talk, he still asks how my boy is doing.”
“You just see a different side of the guy. Not everybody sees it.”
‘Significant Relationship’
Mullin’s bond with the president has positioned him to be one of the most influential lawmakers in Trump’s second term, with both a direct line to the president and congressional ties to help shape his legislative agenda. He stuck by Trump during the times when the president’s political career seemed over — through Jan. 6, a second impeachment, and the barrage of criminal charges. In doing so, as Trump returned to the White House, Mullin had demonstrated the attribute he values above all: loyalty.
“There’s no question he has a significant relationship with the president,” Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Mullin’s close friend and roommate in Washington, told Bloomberg Government. “I know that to be certain.”
On the surface, Trump and Mullin look like opposites. Trump, as a boy in New York, had a chauffeur, while Mullin grew up with six siblings in rural Oklahoma.
The Oklahoman wears square-toed cowboy boots, a look his male staffers copy but one Trump wouldn’t be caught dead in. “And no, I don’t play golf,” Mullin said.
Despite lacking the name recognition of some of Trump’s other allies, his close ties to the House — where he served for a decade before becoming one of the youngest senators at 45 years old in 2023 — give him a level of influence across the Capitol few senators have.
Mullin still leads a bipartisan workout group at 6:30 a.m. in the House gym, a group that included former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who was confirmed on Wednesday as Trump’s director of National Intelligence, and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It has become his forum for maintaining relationships and building new ones, Smith said.
“There’s not one senator over there that has better relationships with as many House members as Markwayne, and there is not a senator over there that campaigned more for Donald Trump,” Smith said.
Frequent Fighter
At the same time, he’s one of Trump’s most effective attack dogs. He posts on X frequently — often more than a dozen times a day — defending the administration’s policies, talking up his nominees, and slapping down the “woke” mob out to get Trump.
He spent weeks on the road campaigning for Trump last fall, and as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, he’s one of the few Native Americans in Congress — an attribute that has made him a credible attack dog in Trump’s anti-DEI crusade.
“I grew up in Indian Country, living on the same land my ancestors were forced to move to,” Mullin posted on X last month. “I was born with bowed knees and a bad speech impediment. I lived in a barn. I NEVER let that be an excuse.”
Mullin also played a pivotal role in getting some of Trump’s nominees across the line, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, according to a senior White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy. The official described him as working tirelessly and being “energetic” in advancing Trump’s goals.
“President Trump loves people who are fighters,” said Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.). “Clearly, Markwayne Mullin is a fighter.”
Mullin’s pugilistic nature was on show in 2023 when he threatened to fight Teamsters President Sean O’Brien during a committee hearing. The two nearly came to blows until Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) intervened. The clip went viral on social media, raising the profile of both men.
As far as the president is concerned, Mullin has distinguished himself as a resource, Justin Clark, a former Trump White House official who later worked for Mullin’s campaign, said. He is one of a few senators who had direct access to Trump, meaning he can call him directly rather than go through handlers, and has established a regular back-and-forth where the two exchange ideas.
Yet despite that access, Mullin doesn’t over-communicate — even as countless others constantly fight to get in the president’s ear.
Mullin said he talks to Trump a few times a week. The two had spoken that morning, he said. However, Mullin wouldn’t say what was discussed — offering a hint at why the relationship has blossomed.
“There’s a trust factor there, too,” he said.
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