(Bloomberg) -- Linda McMahon will step down from leading the Small Business Administration to help raise money for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign.
“Linda McMahon has done an incredible job,” Trump said as he announced her departure on Friday to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “She has been a superstar.”
Trump said a new administrator of the Small Business Administration will be announced soon.
McMahon, co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., will join the America First political organization that backs Trump's agenda, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
She was asked to join the America First organization because of concern that its super-political action committee isn't raising enough money and that the group lacked a leader with the president's full trust and clout in the donor world, according to people familiar with the matter.
McMahon, who joined Trump in speaking to reporters, thanked the president and discussed the work she did for the Small Business Administration.
McMahon's departure comes as Trump is starting to shift into re-election mode and Democratic challengers are becoming more aggressive in fundraising and laying the groundwork for their campaigns.
McMahon donated more than $6 million to Trump's 2016 campaign, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by the Center for Public Integrity. She stepped down as chief executive officer of WWE in 2009 and later twice ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate from Connecticut.
Politico reported McMahon's plan to depart the government earlier on Friday.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Shannon Pettypiece in Washington at spettypiece@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Joshua Gallu
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