Former Libertarian Chair Shares Details of Trump Meeting in NH Liberty Forum Speech

Former Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle shared details of a meeting she had with then-Republican candidate Donald Trump during the 2024 election cycle in a speech delivered at the NH Liberty Forum this past month. McArdle also discussed her experience with the campaign and her role in securing a pledge from Trump to pardon Ross Ulbricht.

McArdle recounted the events in a mainstage keynote address at the annual gathering, which is hosted by the Free State Project. Local media estimated that around 300 attendees participated in the full forum. McArdle’s talk, titled “The Heart of the Deal,” covered her initial contact with Trump, the conversation that led to his appearance at the Libertarian National Convention, and his pledge to pardon Ulbricht. A full transcript of her speech has since been published on Third Party Watch.

According to McArdle, she came into contact with Trump through Ric Grennell, his former acting director of national intelligence. Grennell had initially reached out to gauge how Libertarians felt about Trump, with McArdle acknowledging areas of agreement between them, including Trump’s foreign policy views and his criticism of corporate media. She also expressed concerns about pandemic-era stimulus spending and the drone strike on Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani in early 2020.

She later met Grennell for dinner in Texas with her family. During the meal, she recounts that Trump spoke to her over the phone directly for about forty-five minutes, asking further questions about Libertarian voters.

“What was really fascinating is, he knew all about me,” McArdle recalled. “I said I liked how he made the worst people’s heads explode, and he was like, ‘Oh, you know, I say the same thing about you. I’ve been reading on the internet—you make a lot of heads explode. You make a lot of Libertarian heads explode.’ So that was really interesting, you know?”

Trump reportedly asked how he could reach such voters and said he didn’t think the Libertarian Party would win. McArdle responded that she wasn’t focused on the presidency but rather on influencing local races and other issues. She was invited to Mar-a-Lago several weeks later through Grennell.

While at Mar-a-Lago, McArdle met with Trump, Grennell, campaign co-chair Susie Wiles, and one other unnamed adviser over dinner. While waiting for Trump to arrive, the group discussed Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and individuals McArdle said she would like to see pardoned. At this point, Ulbricht’s name had not yet come up. She also addressed allegations with the NH Liberty Forum audience that she was paid to attend the meeting, denying the claim and saying she paid for the trip herself.

Once Trump arrived, McArdle said the discussion turned to reaching voters, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve, and the drug war, specifically mentioning reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance. Trump then expressed interest in speaking at the Libertarian National Convention. McArdle suggested he address members on a topic such as freeing Ross Ulbricht or another political prisoner. When Trump asked who Ulbricht was, and after hearing the name and explanation, he reportedly said he “loves freeing people” and agreed to attend.

McArdle explained she raised Ulbricht’s case because of its emotional impact and resonance with both Libertarians and bitcoin advocates.

“You have to choose something with maximum emotional impact,” she said. “It has to have high emotional appeal, because think about how asymmetrical the bargaining power is right now. You have to choose something that people will emotionally invest themselves in.”

According to McArdle, Trump’s staff remained in consistent communication for more than a year after the meeting, though contact tapered closer to the election. She said one staffer reached out again less than a week before the inauguration to clarify whether Ulbricht should receive a commutation or a full pardon. Trump, who said at the Libertarian National Convention he would commute Ulbricht’s sentence on his first day in office if elected with Libertarian support, ultimately issued a full pardon the following day, a delay McArdle attributed to scheduling.

She also said she was on the phone with Trump’s team during the first assassination attempt against him in Pennsylvania, originally calling to discuss ballot access. McArdle noted that Trump had been slated to speak at Rescue the Republic, a multi-group rally in Washington, D.C., that she helped organize in late 2024, but coordination became impossible following the attack due to heightened security needs.

Since Trump began his second term, McArdle said she continues to lobby on behalf of two “prominent Bitcoin Libertarians,” with one likely being a reference to Roger Ver, whom the party had organized a committee around prior to her resignation as LNC chair. She said she is hoping to secure a position within the Trump administration and hopes to help place additional Libertarians in federal roles, though she did not specify what that has looked like.

McArdle also commented on the framing of the Libertarian Party’s message during the election, referring to its presidential nominee, Chase Oliver, as “a sub-par candidate.” She praised him, claiming he made it easier to secure more Libertarian votes for Trump as a result. She also very briefly mentioned the Kennedy Victory Fund, the joint fundraising committee between Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Libertarian National Committee.

McArdle concluded her speech with a pitch to attendees to help recruit a 2028 Libertarian presidential candidate who could secure a position on another candidate’s transition team or in a federal cabinet in return for dropping out.

“I don’t care whether or not you join the Libertarian Party, especially not right now,” McArdle said. “But you should all help me recruit our next presidential candidate, so that we can get more people out of prison who are there wrongfully, so that we can put an end to foreign conflicts that the United States shouldn’t be meddling in, and so that we can preserve the future of this beautiful country for our children. So let’s start working on our next heart of the deal.”

It’s called shaving off a few voters. Some Libertarians are so off there’s no hope. You gotta be pure to the point where close races go to democrats. He made fun of their 3% when he spoke to them. It was a brutal recruitment truth.

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