Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign held a fundraising dinner at the home of billionaire investor John Paulson in Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday raising a whopping $50.5 million, his campaign reported, according to multiple American news media.
As the former president looks to replenish depleted funds in his rematch with the current President and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Trump’s largest fundraiser to date pulled in twice the $25 million earned by his Democratic rival in New York last month.
This is a boost for the former US President who has frequently been outraised by Biden and has been facing financial difficulties owing to increasing lawyer fees and legal settlements from his four criminal indictments and other civil court proceedings, expenses paid for by his Save America PAC.
The proceeds from the fundraiser will be divvied up among the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, state Republican parties, and the Save America PAC, that has already spent tens of millions of dollars on Trump’s legal bills.
While Trump has failed to win the backing of certain conventional Republican fundraisers, he still has some heavy hitters. Saturday’s fundraiser co-hosts were hedge-fund investor Robert Mercer and his daughter, conservative activist Rebekah Mercer, investor Scott Bessent, and casino mogul Phil Ruffin.
“People are just wanting change. Rich people want it, poor people want it,” Trump asserted ahead of the event, where he was joined by his wife Melania Trump, who has pretty much avoided the campaign trail thus far.
Ammar Moussa, a Biden spokeswoman, tweeted that millionaires had rushed to Trump’s gathering because of tax breaks. “The ultra-wealthy are really mad at Joe Biden for making them pay their fair share.”
Trump has floated Paulson as a prospective Treasury secretary, according to two people. Bessent has also been considered for the post.
Paulson stated that the “overwhelming support” at the dinner, which was scheduled to draw 100 people, was proof of people’s excitement for Trump.
The ex-president talked for around 45 minutes, covering topics such as the economy and the southern border with Mexico, according to fundraiser George Glass, Trump’s former ambassador to Portugal. “He also talked a lot about the unification of the party.”
The Republican candidate’s campaign reported that the total raised at the dinner was “double” what Biden had earned last month when he raked in over $25 million at a star-studded event with Democratic former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
The results will not be validated until filings are made to the Federal Election Commission. It is a known practice that to gain traction, campaigns typically inflate their fundraising totals.
Last month, Trump’s campaign announced that it would be unable to equal Biden’s fundraising totals this year. His campaign, together with a joint fundraising committee, collected $20.3 million in February, compared to Biden’s reelection campaign that raised more than $53 million that month.
However, more money does not automatically indicate success. In 2016, Trump defeated Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, who raised $769.9 million dollars, almost double Trump’s $433.4 million haul.
Trump, who won the Republican presidential nomination last month, may now solicit funds through the Republican National Committee (RNC), which his daughter-in-law now co-chairs, ahead of the November 5 election.
The Trump 47 Committee, a new fundraising partnership with the RNC, distributes donations to Trump’s Save America leadership group before going to the RNC, according to the fundraiser invitation.
The Trump 47 Committee had asked rich contributors to give up to 814,600 dollars per individual. According to the invitation, the first $6,600 dollars of each individual’s gift would be directed to Trump’s presidential campaign.
A maximum of $5,000 per individual would be donated to Save America. After Save America gets its share, the RNC is expected to receive up to $413,000. In the case of the largest contributions, a slew of Republican state parties should also receive funding.