ATLANTA, GA - Incoming Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Joe Gruters will formally take over steering the national party committee on Friday.RNC committee members are expected to elect Gruters - who has the backing of President Donald Trump - as chair, as they finish up business at their summer meeting, which they are holding this year in battleground Georgia's capital and biggest city.Gruters, a Florida state senator, RNC committee member from the Sunshine State, the national party committee's treasurer, and a longtime Trump ally, will succeed chair Michael Whatley, who is stepping down as he runs for the Senate in North Carolina in the blockbuster race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis."I have somebody who will do a wonderful job as the Chairman of the RNC," Trump wrote in a social media post a month ago, as he endorsed Whatley in the Senate race and Gruters as party chair. "His name is, Joe Gruters, and he will have my Complete and Total Endorsement."TRUMP BACKED RNC CHAIR JUMPS INTO BLOCKBUSTER SENATE BATTLEThe president called Gruters, who co-chaired Trump's 2016 campaign in Florida, a "Fierce Advocate for our Movement" and a "MAGA warrior who has been with us from the very beginning."And Trump said that the 48-year-old Gruters, who served as Florida GOP chair from 2019 to 2023, had "helped us deliver massive and historic Victories across the state."RNC CHAIR SAYS BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL FRONT-AND-CENTER IN GOP'S MIDTERM PUSHAn RNC insider, pointing to the surge in Republican voter registration in Florida during Gruters' tenure as state party chair, said that he was instrumental in turning "a very purple state into a ruby-red state and that's what he's going to bring across the country.""He has won Republican races, gotten out the vote, and protected the vote in Florida," the insider, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said.The ascension of Gruters to RNC chair is the latest sign of Trump's complete control over the national party committee."The Republican Party is united under President Trump," the insider told Fox News. "It's a stark contrast to the Democrat Party, which can't raise money and is ruddlerless."Following his election as president in 2016, Trump chose then-Michigan GOP chair Ronna McDaniel as RNC chair, and supported her re-election in 2019 and again in 2021. Then-former President Trump stayed neutral as McDaniel won election to an unprecedented fourth two-year term at the beginning of 2023.But Trump, souring on McDaniel, orchestrated her ouster a little over a year later and backed Whatley as her replacement. Whatley was elected chair at an RNC meeting in Houston in March of last year, as Trump cruised towards clinching the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, was elected co-chair.DNC CHAIR TELLS FOX NEWS DIGITAL DEMOCRATS HAVE HIT ROCK BOTTOM - HERE'S HIS PLAN TO REBOUNDWhatley and the RNC, working in coordination with Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, helped steer the party to last November's electoral victories, as the GOP won back the White House and the Senate, and held on to its fragile majority in the House.This year, with the party in control of the White House and Congress, the RNC has enjoyed robust fundraising and currently holds a large cash-on-hand lead over the rival Democratic National Committee, as both parties ramp up for next year's midterm elections.Whatley announced his Senate bid on July 31, four days after Democrats landed their top recruit, former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper."President Trump deserves an ally, and North Carolina deserves a strong conservative voice in the Senate," Whatley emphasized as he spoke to a crowd of family, friends and supporters as he declared his candidacy. "I will be that voice."The Senate race in battleground North Carolina is expected to be one of the most expensive and competitive in the country, as the GOP defends its 53-47 majority in the chamber."We will be the most expensive Senate race in the history of the country," Whatley told Fox News Digital. "But, look, we will be able to raise the resources we need to tell our story, and we are going to work all 100 counties here across North Carolina to be able to tell our story.Gruters, an accountant who has spent a nearly a decade in the Florida legislature, is close with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, a fellow Floridian who was co-campaign manager of Trump's 2024 presidential bid.And Gruters has often clashed with the state's two-term Republican governor, Ron DeSantis.Gruters backed Trump over DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race.