Former President Donald Trump is aiming to break the fundraising record just set by President Biden.
Biden appeared at a fundraiser Thursday night at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, which raised more than $26 million.
The president’s reelection campaign called the money raised at the star-studded event — which set a record for a single fundraiser — “historic.”
The fundraising success allowed Mr. Biden to extend his already huge financial advantage over Mr. Trump.
Trump aims for level playing field in fundraising battle with Biden
President Biden (center), former President Barack Obama (left) and former President Bill Clinton appear at a fundraising event at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
But the former president is teaming up with some of the nation’s wealthiest Republicans to raise up to $33 million at a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6. A person familiar with the fundraising details confirmed the amount first reported by the Financial Times.
Billionaire investor and hedge fund founder John Paulson is hosting the biggest fundraiser to kick off the recently formed Donald J. Trump National Committee.
The event is expected to feature major contributors, some of whom were on the sidelines during the recently concluded primary season or supported the former president’s rivals.
Among those listed as co-chairs of the fundraiser are hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebecca Mercer. Although they gave Trump a big boost in 2016, they barely participated in the former president’s 2020 re-election campaign.
First broadcast on FOX: Donald Trump’s fundraising efforts last month
Also on the list of co-chairs is oil magnate Harold Hamm. hotelier and space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow; Casino giant Steve Wynn. Todd Ricketts is co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, a member of TD Ameritrade’s board of directors, and former RNC finance chairman.
The Inaugural Leadership Dinner will be held at Paulson’s Palm Beach home, not far from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and resort.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Super Tuesday election night party at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 5. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The fundraiser is yet another sign that much of the Republican donor base is rallying around Trump, now that he has secured the Republican nomination and is seen as the party’s presidential nominee. is. A political insider of the former president called the fundraiser a moment of “President Trump’s return.”
Mr. Trump has long had a strained relationship with some of the Republican donor base, but in recent months he has worked hard to improve relations. He has hosted some of these major contributors in recent weeks.
“Most large donors [Ron] Like DeSantis [Nikki] Haley has also joined in, rallying around the president. “I think everyone understands what’s at stake in the 2024 election,” said Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Federation, which has close ties to the donor base. he told FOX News.
One reason Trump faces such a large fundraising shortfall against Biden is that the president has been able to raise money in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee and Democratic state parties across the country. is.
But a joint fundraising committee set up last week by the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee allows for similar coordination between the two campaigns and with Republican chapters across the state.
The committee was created after the former president and his campaign team took control of the RNC and installed allies in top leadership positions on the national party committee.
RNC and Trump campaign officials, who requested anonymity to speak more freely, said Thursday that “Biden will never be able to raise dollars for dollars…but what it takes to win is within reach.” I’ll go in,” he admitted.
The official called the rapid growth in fundraising for the Trump campaign and the RNC “impressive,” adding: “We’re very happy with where things are going this time next month.”
Former President Donald Trump gestures to the audience at a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
The Biden campaign last week mocked President Trump over the latest fundraising numbers, highlighting the president’s formidable fundraising advantage.
“If Donald Trump released numbers like these on ‘The Apprentice,’ he would fire himself,” Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement.
But after a flurry of critical news coverage focused on Trump’s cash earnings and the strain his multiple criminal and civil lawsuits are placing on his campaign, Trump will not be shown at next week’s Palm Beach gala. There will be some fundraising news to come.
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Save America, a political action committee affiliated with Trump that he has been using to pay for his legal fees, has surpassed the amount it raised last month, with nearly all of it going to the former president’s legal costs.
But the Trump campaign says fundraising has skyrocketed, with more than $1 million per day online over the past six days and more than $10.6 million raised last week from nearly 300,000 digital donors.
“Donald Trump has the ability to leverage earned media in ways that Biden cannot, given his overwhelming dominance in viewership and clicks,” the campaign said.
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