Trump Raises $50 Million in One Night, but He’s Still Courting His Biggest 2020 Donor

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PALM BEACH, Fla.—Donald Trump used a splashy fundraiser at a billionaire’s mansion here to showcase his consolidation of the Republican megadonor class, pulling in $50.5 million Saturday. But his biggest donor has yet to write a check.

Miriam Adelson—who with her late husband, Sheldon Adelson, were the largest donors to Trump’s 2020 effort with $90 million in contributions—hasn’t yet given to Trump’s 2024 bid. She is among a dwindling number of big-name holdouts, which also include Blackstone Chief Executive Officer Stephen Schwarzman and Elliott Management’s Paul Singer.

As Trump faces a better-financed President Biden in what is expected to be the most expensive general election in history, he will need all the help he can get—especially as he siphons some donations for legal bills.

Trump’s Saturday haul would be about double what Biden recently raised in a single event.

“This is likely to be the biggest and one of the most successful fundraising events in political history,” said GOP fundraiser Brian Ballard.

Trump, joined by his wife, Melania, appeared before nearly 120 people and gave a 45-minute speech, according to people in attendance.

He talked about increasing domestic energy production, securing the southern border and extending tax cuts he signed into law as president. He called out former rivals for the GOP nomination, and said he wanted to debate Biden.

“Success will be our only revenge,” Trump said.

Increasingly, Trump is courting the megadonor class, including Adelson, who is one of the world’s richest women. She is the controlling shareholder of the casino giant her husband created, Las Vegas Sands. The former president speaks with her regularly, and the pair have had dinner twice in the past two months, in Las Vegas and at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach.

Adelson is expected eventually to contribute, according to several people close to her or Trump’s fundraising network. An Adelson spokesman declined to comment.

Trump has sometimes complicated the relationship. In 2019, Sheldon Adelson called the president to warn about the impact of the trade war with China on the U.S. economy and Trump’s re-election prospects.

And it is unclear how Miriam Adelson views Trump’s critical comments on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his stewardship of the country’s war with Hamas. Trump said the war needs to “finish up” or Israel will lose standing in the world—remarks Trump made to journalists from a newspaper Adelson owns. Born in Israel, Adelson is a staunch supporter of her homeland.

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She and Trump speak often, people familiar with the conversations say, discussing Israel and other issues, including her work combating drug addiction. Politico earlier reported the March dinner.

Now, even as he courts holdouts like Adelson, it is clear GOP billionaires are coming home to Trump. Saturday’s fundraiser netted $50.5 million, according to host John Paulson, the billionaire hedge-fund manager who is viewed as a candidate for Treasury secretary if Trump wins a second term. “This overwhelming support demonstrates the enthusiasm for President Trump and his policies,” Paulson said.

Trump is currently leading Biden in six of the seven states expected to be the most competitive, according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll. Still, some allies of the former president are concerned about having the resources to sustain that advantage. Legal bills related to the various prosecutions Trump faces in Georgia, New York, Washington, D.C., and Florida have eaten up tens of millions of dollars. Campaign-finance data shows that small-dollar donations—those driven by a flurry of emails and texts that trigger online contributions—have slowed.

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Republican megadonors generally align with Trump on economic policy, including decreased regulation and limited government, according to people close to them. And Biden’s repeated calls to increase taxes on the wealthy hasn’t earned him many friends among them.

Nelson Peltz, the billionaire investor who this past week lost a proxy battle with Disney, said he was sorry he voted for Trump after the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. But in March, speaking to the Financial Times, Peltz cited Biden’s immigration policies and what he said is the president’s mental decline.

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Some of the boldface names set to attend Saturday’s Trump fundraiser backed other candidates in the primary.

The hotelier Robert Bigelow initially backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the GOP nomination, but later said he was supporting Trump. Bigelow, a co-chair for Saturday’s event, told Reuters he was giving $1 million to help with Trump’s legal bills and would contribute another $20 million for the campaign.

Harold Hamm, the Oklahoma oil-and-gas billionaire who supported DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the primary, is a host for the fundraiser in Palm Beach, which has suggested contributions ranging from $250,000 to $814,600 a person.

Holdouts remain, but Trump has an opening to win several over.

Schwarzman, who in 2022 broke with the former president, saying he planned to back “a new generation” of Republican leaders, is being courted by the Trump campaign. He is still undecided, according to people familiar with his plans. His name, too, has circulated as a possible Treasury secretary contender.

Singer is also undecided and has been focused on helping fundraise for Senate Republican candidates, someone familiar with his plans said. He contributed to the super PAC that backed Haley, who was Trump’s most serious primary rival.

One top contributor who seems less likely to support Trump is Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, a billionaire who is one of the nation’s top GOP donors and a Haley supporter.

A person familiar with Griffin’s thinking said that no decisions have been made about the presidential race and that there are open lines of communication with Trump’s team. Griffin has suggested in the past that he will focus on congressional races.

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