Roger Stone is back in the lobbying game

Roger Stone, who in the 1980s helped invent Washington’s modern influence industry, is back in the lobbying business. And he’s earning millions of dollars for his services.

With his longtime friend and former client Donald Trump back in the White House, Stone has returned to the lobbying work that first made him wealthy and helped cement his place in Republican politics. And with the president’s willingness to entertain corporate interests well established, clients are willing to pay big bucks for a lobbyist with a relationship with the president that few others can claim.

“He’s a public figure, people know who he is, people know who he knows,” said Paul Manafort, Stone’s former business partner, about Stone’s lobbying work. “Companies I’m sure are attracted to his abilities to figure out strategy and come up with ways to solve problems.”

Stone, who registered his first federal lobbying client in eight years on Trump’s 16th day back in office, has reported earning $2.7 million so far during the second Trump administration. Almost half of that total, $1.2 million, came in the first three months of 2026 alone, according to congressional lobbying records.

The demand for Stone’s one-man lobbying shop, Drake Ventures, has come from a range of groups from Native American tribes to rare earth suppliers and miners to a MAGA House candidate and more. It reflects the political reality that success in Washington comes easier to those with a direct line to the Oval Office. Stone and others with close relationships to Trump have not hesitated to capitalize on those relationships since Trump’s reelection.

“[Stone’s] career is one where he’s been very successful in marrying politics and government and issues,” Manafort said. “His experience is significant beyond many people in Washington given the length of his career.”

Stone’s new income stream is coming from a small group of clients with deep pockets. Stone reported lobbying for seven clients in the first quarter, whose contracts ranged from $30,000 to $300,000 for three months of work.

“My filings speak for themselves,” Stone said, when asked about his recent income.

The White House declined to comment.

It marks a change in fortunes for the consultant who five years ago claimed to have been “financially destroyed” by legal costs arising from an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller and his subsequent prosecution on charges of lying to Congress and witness intimidation. Stone was convicted on those charges in 2019 and sentenced to more than three years in prison, but never served a day thanks to a presidential commutation issued during Trump’s first term. Trump later issued a full pardon to Stone. Manafort, who had been separately convicted in 2018 on bank and tax fraud charges, was pardoned the same day.

The Justice Department sued Stone and his wife, Nydia, in 2021 seeking five years of unpaid taxes. As the case dragged on and Stone’s wife underwent cancer treatment, he took to hawking Trump memorabilia online to raise money. In 2022, the Stones settled the tax case by agreeing to pay the government more than $2.1 million in back taxes, penalties and interest.

Since then, Stone’s financial fortunes appear to have turned. On top of his lobbying work, Stone told POLITICO he plans to continue campaign work and pointed to his Substack, books, radio show and menswear line as additional sources of income.

Stone’s most lucrative current client is Trident Zoetic, a rare earth elements mining collaboration between Korean company Trident Global Holdings and American company Zoetic Global. Trident Zoetic, which hired Stone in August, has so far paid him $600,000 to lobby the White House on “rare earth mineral opportunities,” according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures. Trident Zoetic did not respond to a request for comment.

His second most lucrative current client is the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, a small Native American tribe that, since hiring Stone last April, has secured an Oval Office meeting with Trump and a $10 million no-bid contract for a construction project at the U.S. embassy in Singapore. Stone previously told NOTUS that he didn’t lobby for the tribe to win the contract. The tribe has paid Stone $580,000 for his services so far. The tribe did not respond to a request for comment.

Stone's remaining federal lobbying clients represent a mix of industries with business before the administration. Uinta Basin Railway Holdings, the would-be developer of a railway to transport oil out of Utah has paid Stone $400,000 to advocate for federal support and funding of the project. Power cell manufacturer Infinite Power Holdings gave Stone $200,000 to lobby for “development of energy generation on Native American tribal land,” according to a filing. Neither company returned a request for comment.

Federal lobbying records only reveal a portion of Stone’s income.

Foreign agent registrations filed with the Justice Department show Stone has also been working as a contractor for DCI Group, aiding the lobbying firm with its representation of the governments of the Bahamas and Nigeria. Stone’s paperwork indicates he is earning $125,000 a month for his work on the Bahamas’ effort to “build stronger relations with the United States.” That contract is expected to run through mid-August.

Stone didn’t report a specific salary for the Nigeria contract, which describes his work as assisting in communicating the African nation’s efforts to protect Christian citizens and “maintaining U.S. support in countering West African jihadist groups and other destabilizing elements.” DCI’s contract with Nigeria runs through December and is valued at $9 million for one year of work. The firm declined to comment.

All these filings likely don’t capture the full scope of Stone’s activities. He was also reportedly involved in a pardon lobbying campaign for former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who received a Trump pardon in December. Stone has said he was not paid to advocate for Hernandez. POLITICO was not able to reach Hernandez.

Stone’s influence doesn’t end at the Washington city limits. He has also earned $180,000 working as a political consultant to Anthony Constantino, a sticker company CEO with MAGA bonafides running a House primary campaign in New York against a retired Marine colonel with establishment Republican support, according to FEC records.

“I am…proud to be supported by Roger Stone who strongly encouraged me to run for elected office upon meeting me for the very first time and helped me launch my political career at no charge,” Constantino said in a statement. “After awhile, I insisted on paying Roger and he agreed. I love Roger. He’s a great person who’s sacrificed incredibly for our country and I’ve always been happy to pay him to advise me.”

Trump endorsed Constantino on Tuesday, the same day Stone claimed to have spent two and a half hours with the president.

“Anthony is strongly supported by many of the most Highly Respected MAGA Warriors in our Movement, including Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Roger Stone!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

For now, at least, Stone’s financial troubles appear to have eased. On the first of this month, nearly four years after the settlement in Stone’s tax case, the Justice Department notified the judge that the judgement against Stone and his wife had been satisfied.

Their debts had been paid in full.