He’s a son of Alabama’s Wiregrass and a graduate of the University of Alabama.
David W. Matthews has been sworn in as President Donald Trump’s director of state operations for rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Matthews, 37, will oversee development and finance for farms, farm-related businesses and agriculture non-profits in all 50 states. He had worked in the first Trump administration in the USDA Business Development Office, Farm Service Agency and other ag responsibilities.
But Trump lost the 2020 election count, and Matthews and almost all Trump political appointees were out of a job around January 20, 2021.
So what does a Trump administrator do in the four-year gap between his work for Trump 45 and Trump 47? That work included Team USDA Huntington National Bank.
During off hours, Matthews also authored the first in an announced series of autobiographical books. "My Trail to the White House: Part One. Trials & Tribulations" is available here.
At a young age, Matthews came by his interest in conservative Republican politics. His father, Will Matthews, is an attorney practicing in Ozark and Dothan. Will has been a longtime activist in the GOP in Alabama’s Wiregrass. He was a delegate to the GOP National Convention in 2012 and 2016.
He posted this reaction to David’s swearing in at the USDA:
Today was a proud day for me when my son David W Matthews was sworn in as the Director of State Operations for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture. He is over all 50 States and will oversee thousands of employees. This will be his second four-year stint with the Trump Administration. He’s only 37 years old.
David Matthews has four children (so far). Here is a touching photo of the children of David and Emily Matthews watching on TV as their Dad is sworn in to the Trump administration (again).
David Matthews' ties to the Trump world began in 2015 when he joined the campaign. He was assigned to a job nobody much wanted and seemed impossible. He was put in charge of 23 Democrat counties in the vital state of Pennsylvania. He surprised everyone and turned the blue area red. The national press noticed Democratic Erie County. Under Matthews' organizing, it went Republican for the first time since 1984. Trump won Pennsylvania and the 2016 election.
If you think that David Matthews’ life is an uninteresting series of politics and agricultural administrative work, think again. His book starts out with the hair-raising story of David surviving the deadly Tuscaloosa tornado of April 27, 2011.
Then there’s the Good Samaritan story. David was walking on his way to work in 2019 when he saw a man flat on the ground in distress – turning blue. David is CPR certified and a former lifeguard as a student. He knew what to do. While others passed by, he stopped and administered chest compressions. A woman also stopped and started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. They kept it up, doing it right, until the paramedics arrived and took over. The ambulance took the man away.
Fast forward 10 days. David was again walking to work in Washington when he became the victim. He was struck by a van. The same paramedics who he had met 10 days earlier as the Good Samaritan this time rescued David and took him to the emergency room. He had a broken shoulder and numerous other injuries. He was seriously injured but recovered.
Hopefully, David’s second term of service under Trump will not be as eventful on the streets of Washington as his first.
David W. Matthews joins a growing troop of Alabama folks in the second Trump administration.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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