He’s been called the most powerful lobbyist in President Trump’s Washington. Brian Ballard, the president of D.C.- and Florida-based Ballard Partners, was a top Florida fundraiser for the last three Republican presidential candidates, including Trump, and has aided the rise of several GOP governors in the state. One of Ballard’s top lieutenants, Susie Wiles, even ran Trump’s campaign in Florida, helping deliver one of the nation’s biggest swing states.

Ballard, 58, one of six children raised by a single mother and a double graduate of the University of Florida, recently spoke with the Washington Examiner about being a top lobbyist and doing business in the Trump era. A lightly edited transcript follows.