Trump OC Fundraiser At Billionaire Palmer Luckey's Newport Home

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — President Donald Trump will appear in Orange County Sunday at a private fundraiser held at tech mogul Palmer Luckey's estate, it was reported Friday.

The news came Thursday, just as the latest fundraising numbers showed the president falling behind former Vice President Joe Biden in campaign cash, The Orange County Register reported.

Biden reportedly raised a record-breaking $383 million in September to Trump's $247.8 million. And Biden reported $432 million in cash heading into October vs. Trump's $251 million.

Trump has outraised Biden in Newport Beach , according to an LA Times report. The president raised $1,009,965 until July 31 in Newport Beach's 92660 zip code, and $630,482 in Newport Beach's 92663 zip code.

According to the report, Trump's mega-donor in the area was Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus, who wrote Trump multiple checks, including one for $400,000.

Until July 31, Trump's top donor was Caryn L. Borland, who donated $222,867 to his reelection campaign. The city is among Trump's most significant sources of cash in California, according to the Times.

Invitations for Sunday's fundraiser at Luckey's Newport Beach home show tickets ranging from $2,800 for individual admission. Want to take a date and a picture with the president? According to the Register, a mere $150,000 will gain entrance for a couple, along with a photo with the president.

Ric Grenell, Trump's former acting Director of National Intelligence, is also slated to be a special guest at the event.

Originally slated to take place Oct. 6, the event was postponed after Trump contracted the coronavirus.

The president says he no longer feels the effects of COVID. His doctors have cleared him for public appearances. Some experts have expressed concern about him holding in-person events less than two weeks after he was released from the hospital. They continue to discourage any large public gatherings. It is not known if masks will be the order of the evening.

Of the $1.7 million Luckey has donated to the campaign this cycle, much of those funds has gone toward GOP committees and Republicans running for seats, such as Michelle Steel and Young Kim, both trying to unseat sitting Democratic Congress members.

Luckey is a Long Beach native who was 19 when he co-founded the Oculus Rift virtual-reality system in Irvine.

His company sold for an estimated $3 billion to Facebook in 2014.

This article originally appeared on the Newport Beach-Corona Del Mar Patch