Donald Trump’s campaign said it raised $50.5 million at a Saturday fundraiser in Florida, a staggering sum as the former president’s political operation scrambles to close its big financial gap with President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.
The haul announced by the campaign and top officials with the Republican National Committee far eclipses the $26 million that Biden reported collecting recently at a star-studded gathering in New York City that featured former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. The Trump total from the “Inaugural Leadership Dinner” at the Palm Beach, Florida, home of billionaire investor John Paulson sets a record for a single fundraising event.
“It’s clearer than ever that we have the message, the operation, and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5,” Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement.
Heading into the fundraiser Saturday night with his wife, Melania Trump, the former president boasted that “this has been some incredible evening before it even starts because people, they want to contribute to a cause of making America great again.”
The closed-door event signals that some of the GOP’s biggest donors are rallying behind Donald Trump as the general election showdown with Biden swings into gear.
An array of wealthy GOP figures were billed as event “co-chairs,” including hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah; oil tycoon Harold Hamm; hotelier and space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow; and casino mogul Steve Wynn, according to an invitation obtained by CNN.
The price tag for the fundraiser ranged from $250,000 per person for those serving on the “host committee” to $824,600 per person to serve as a “chairman.” Perks for those contributing at the top level included dinner seating at Trump’s table.
But Trump has lots of ground to make up in the fundraising race.
Biden and the Democratic Party on Saturday announced raising more than $90 million in March and entering April with some $192 million in available cash in their war chest.
The Trump campaign and the RNC announced raising a combined $65.6 million in March and said they closed the month with $93.1 million in cash on hand.
The Palm Beach fundraiser collected money for the Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising operation that includes Trump’s campaign, the RNC and state party committees. It also benefited a leadership PAC that has underwritten Trump’s personal legal bills and is part of the joint fundraising agreement.
For its part, Biden’s team has said its early fundraising advantage has helped build a campaign infrastructure in key battleground states – including opening more than 100 new campaign offices.
The team has also highlighted its grassroots fundraising operation as a tool that can sustain the president’s campaign through the long haul of the general election. The campaign said 96% of its first-quarter donations were under $200.
“While Donald Trump has been busy awarding himself golf trophies at Mar-a-Lago and palling around with billionaires, Joe Biden has been crisscrossing the nation connecting with voters and outlining his vision to grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out,” Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement earlier Saturday, referring to Trump’s Florida resort. “That’s why Democrats are earning record-breaking support from grassroots donors, like nurses and teachers, who are fired up to reelect President Biden, Vice President [Kamala] Harris, and Democrats up and down the ballot.”
