Billionaire donors rally back to Trump
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Trump awards Miriam Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2018. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A flood of elite GOP donors and Trump-curious tycoons have come off the sidelines in recent weeks in support of the former president, who is rapidly closing his fundraising gap with President Biden.
The big picture: Trump's mega-donors defected in droves after Jan. 6 and Republicans' abysmal performance in the 2022 midterms. After flirting with alternate candidates in the GOP primary, many are getting back behind Trump.
The latest is casino billionaire Miriam Adelson, who plans to pour millions into reviving the pro-Trump super PAC Preserve America, Politico reported Thursday.
- Adelson and her late husband, Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson, were Trump's biggest donors in 2020 — contributing $90 million to Preserve America.
- The super PAC was overseen at the time by Chris LaCivita, who is now Trump's co-campaign manager.
Driving the news: Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who has crusaded against DEI policies and antisemitism on college campuses, is likely to endorse Trump as well, the Financial Times reported Thursday.
- Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman told Axios last week that he would support and donate to Trump after previously calling for "a new generation of leaders."
- Activist investor Nelson Peltz, who said he regretted voting for Trump after the Capitol attack, hosted the former president at his Florida mansion in March.
- Elon Musk, who met with Trump at Peltz's home, now speaks to the former president multiple times per month and is organizing dinner parties to whip elite opposition against Biden.
- David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, tech investors and hosts of the popular "All In" podcast, are hosting a Silicon Valley fundraiser for Trump on June 6.
Between the lines: Trump, who spent much of the primary season drowning in legal bills, has ramped up his fundraising appeals with audacious promises to top donors, the Washington Post reports.
- On several occasions, he has asked for checks of $25 million or $50 million — and tested the bounds of campaign finance laws by tying the requests to promises of tax cuts and favorable business policies.
- At a meeting at Mar-a-Lago last month, Trump asked some of the oil industry's top executives to help raise $1 billion for his campaign as he outlined his maximalist pro-drilling agenda.
What they're saying: "Donors at every level from working Americans to business leaders are coming into President Trump's campaign because they know the fate the nation is at stake," Trump campaign adviser Brian Hughes told Axios.
The other side: The Biden campaign has a massive war chest of its own, boasting $192 million in cash-on-hand in April and planning star-studded fundraisers to kick off the summer, including in Hollywood.
- Biden officials also see a political benefit to Trump's alignment with Wall Street and cozy ties with the oil industry.
- "Despite what Donald Trump thinks, America is not for sale to billionaires, oil and gas executives, or even Elon Musk," Biden campaign spokesman James Singer said in a statement.
What to watch: Billionaire Ken Griffin, one of the Republican Party's top donors, says he's waiting to see whom Trump picks as his running mate before getting out his checkbook.
