Top Trump donors gather to celebrate massive fundraising totals
Two of Donald Trump’s top lieutenants are hosting a thank you event on Saturday evening for big donors who helped the president’s political operation rake in nearly half a billion dollars in 2019.
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel are set to headline an event in Palm Beach, Fla., where dozens Trump’s biggest givers are expected to congregate. It is slated to be held at the home of Bill Koch, the billionaire brother of industrialists Charles and David Koch.
The Trump reelection campaign and RNC announced this week that it had raised a combined $463 million last year — almost double what Barack Obama’s political machine raised in the year prior to his 2012 reelection — and had nearly $200 million on hand to start the election year.
The total means that the president is all but certain to begin the general election with a substantial financial advantage over his eventual opponent. Democratic candidates are emptying their war chests in a competitive primary that could stretch deep into 2020.
Two people familiar with the Saturday gathering said it was not a fundraiser, but rather a donor appreciation event. The RNC has hosted several events over the past year aimed at thanking major givers.
The 79-year-old Koch has broken with his brothers in his support for the president. While David (who passed away in 2019) and Charles Koch stayed on the sidelines during the 2016 election, Bill Koch hosted a fundraiser for Trump. The Koch political network has said it plans to sit out the 2020 presidential contest.
While Trump is not expected to attend Saturday evening’s gathering, he is headlining a Jan. 17 fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago resort that is likely to draw an array of big donors.
