Those considerations alone might seem to make Wynn an unlikely choice to lead the Republican Party's fundraising for the 2018 midterm elections, which will be the first full electoral test of Trump's presidency. Throw in the fact that when Wynn and Trump competed in the Atlantic City casino market two decades ago -- a period that included a fierce court battle between the two -- Trump called Wynn a "scumbag," and Wynn suggested Trump was "all hat, no cattle."

But bygones appear to be bygones. As Wynn took a break from the slopes during a weekend ski trip to Idaho's Sun Valley, he sounded anything but ambivalent about his new assignment -- even if it means that his friends will now always assume he's dialing for dollars.

"None of my friends will return my calls anymore," Wynn joked during a telephone interview. On Jan. 31, the 75-year-old chairman of Wynn Resorts Ltd. was named the Republican National Committee's finance chairman. That gives Wynn a key role in maintaining or expanding the party's hold on Congress during the Trump administration.