Former President Donald Trump is hoping to outraise President Joe Biden at a fundraiser hosted by billionaires next week, who are returning to support Trump despite fallout from the Jan. 6 riot.
The event will cost $250,000 for admission, but many donors are pledging the full amount of $814,600, according to Trump’s campaign. The fundraiser is expected to haul in $33 million, and the donations will be divided between Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Convention, and a leadership political action committee that helps with his legal fees.
“We are not only raising the necessary funds, but we are deploying strategic assets that will help send President Trump back to the White House and carry Republicans over the finish line,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told the Washington Post.
The fundraiser will be hosted by billionaires such as oil tycoon Harold Hamm, sugar magnate Jose Fanjul, real estate powerhouses Howard Lutnick and Steve Witkoff, megadonors Rebekah and Bob Mercer, and business executives Todd Ricketts and Warren Stephens.
Other GOP billionaire megadonors are also returning to Trump’s fray, including Nelson Peltz, Hotelier Steve Wynn, Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, and former Marvel chairman Isaac Perlmutter. The four men joined Trump at Peltz’s mansion in Palm Beach for breakfast earlier this month.
Peltz has not always been a fan of the former president and claimed the riot at the United States Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, was a “disgrace” and apologized for supporting Trump in 2016. However, he told the Financial Times that he would “probably” vote for Trump in 2024.
Some of the megadonors are not “enthusiastic” supporters of Trump. They merely see him as better for their own interests than Biden. But one member of Trump’s team, Susies Wiles, has impressed some donors enough to turn their heads. Wiles’s impressiveness was especially noted when providing data that showed Trump could allegedly woo suburban voters.
“This isn’t a passionate embrace. It’s just reality,” one person close to major donors told the Washington Post. “No one is particularly excited about it.”
The formerly enthusiastic megadonors of Trump’s have also expressed concern over his legal battles. But Trump has proved better for them than the alternative of Biden, who has vowed to raise taxes for billionaires.
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The fundraiser next weekend comes after Biden hosted his own mega fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Thursday and raised $26 million for his presidential campaign.
Biden’s campaign closed out February with $71 million cash on hand, according to federal campaign filings. Trump’s campaign ended the month with $33.5 million in the bank. But both campaigns have more funds stored away in super PACs.
