On Saturday, former president Donald Trump and the Republican Party formally launched their campaign to appeal to major donors with a high-profile gala in Palm Beach, Florida. The event, which included some business tycoons, gymnastics team users and former Trump Administration leaders, netted a staggering$ 50 million for the former president’s are- election campaign, administrators have said.
Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson presided over the” Inaugural Leadership Dinner” at Mar- A-Lago, while co-chairs included oil executive Harold Hamm, hotelier Robert Bigelow, casino mogul Steve Wynn, and hedge fund tycoon Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah.
The fundraiser, which included an appearance from former First Lady Melania Trump, reportedly hauled in$ 50 million in total. This would surpass the amount raised by President Biden’s most recent event in New York City, which former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama co-chaired. The corporate press and the president’s allies praised the achievement as a record-setting achievement for the event, which earned roughly 26 million dollars.
” It took three Democrat presidents to raise$ 25 million and one president to raise over$ 50 million, Donald J. Trump”, Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement after Saturday’s event.
As the Trump campaign tries to keep up with the Democrats, both the Republican Party and the Trump campaign have praised the event as the start of a significant fundraising push. According to April fundraising figures, Trump and the RNC began the month with roughly$ 100 million in campaign funds, far below the Biden campaign’s$ 190 million.
The former president has been far outperforming his rival when it comes to small dollar donations, so continuing success with large donors will likely be the key to closing the gap.
According to FEC records, 35 percent of Biden’s 2024 re- election campaign donations have been from big donors, or contributions greater than$ 2, 000. Just 38 percent of the president’s current campaign donations have come from small donors, or contributions valued between$ 1 and$ 200.
In terms of the Trump campaign, only 9 percent of the campaign’s funds came from big donors, compared to 61 percent of campaign funds. Between 2020 and 2024, President Biden’s total donations from big donors have increased by 10 percentage points, while the former president’s numbers have decreased by the same margin
