Donald Trump’s campaign is expected to raise $33mn from a blockbuster fundraiser next week in Florida, as he races to narrow the funding gap with Joe Biden, who is holding his own star-studded gala later on Thursday.
The US president is set to raise more than $25mn from his event at New York’s Radio City Music Hall featuring former US presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. The Biden campaign has dubbed it “the most successful political fundraiser in American history”.
But Trump is increasing his own fundraising events to try to eclipse the Democratic president’s financial advantage, which could be pivotal to the outcome of the November general election.
The Trump fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, will be held on April 6 and will be hosted by hedge fund manager John Paulson .
“The response to our fundraising efforts has been overwhelming, and we’ve raised over $33mn so far,” said Paulson. “There is massive support amongst a broad spectrum of donors. The dinner is relatively small in nature, and we are almost at our cap.”
Two other people familiar with the event confirmed the fundraising total.
Large multimillion-dollar fundraising events are emerging as a central duel in the 2024 White House race, as the campaigns compete for the big donors they will need to sustain what is expected to be the most expensive presidential contest ever.
The list of 38 co-chairs at the Trump event includes people who served in his cabinet, the former ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson, and billionaires from Las Vegas to New York, showing that the former president has won back some top Republican donors despite the criminal charges he faces.
Sugar tycoon Pepe Fanjul, oil baron Harold Hamm, casino titans Steve Wynn and Phil Ruffin, former commerce department secretary Wilbur Ross, conservative mega donors Robert and Rebekah Mercer, and Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent are among the names on the invitation.
Trump is playing catch-up in the money race. By the end of February, Biden’s campaign had more than $71mn on hand and the Democratic National Committee had just over $26mn — more than twice as much as Trump and the Republican National Committee.
In March, Trump became the presumptive nominee, allowing him to raise more money per person along with the RNC.
The former president’s personal financial fortunes have also turned yet again, after an appeals court reduced to $175mn the amount he needed to pay to delay enforcement of a $464mn fraud judgment, while the merger of his social media platform with a blank-cheque company boosted his wealth on paper by nearly $5bn.
The Biden campaign event in New York on Thursday is expected to be attended by more than 5,000 people and was organised in part by Condé Nast’s chief content officer Anna Wintour.
The main draw of the evening is set to be a conversation between the three Democratic leaders moderated by CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert. It will include appearances by Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele.
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Many Democrats are concerned that Biden is trailing Trump in polling averages at this stage in the race and want to see his campaign in a better position to defeat the Republican nominee in November.
Obama has been stepping up efforts to help Biden’s cause. This week he joined a call with Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arranged by the campaign to celebrate the 14th anniversary of his signature healthcare law.
Tickets for the event in New York ranged from $225 for a seat in the third mezzanine level to $500,000 in the front of the orchestra. Other perks include access to an after-party hosted by first lady Jill Biden.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, the media mogul and Biden campaign co-chair, said the event was “a testament to the unprecedented fundraising machine we’ve built”.
Katzenberg also accused Trump of spending millions of dollars of donors’ money on legal fees as the former president defends himself against numerous criminal and civil charges.