At Big DC Shindig, Trump Courts GOP Fundraisers Who Shunned Him in 2016

The campaign’s message to the fat cats: time to bundle up.

Alex Brandon/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

In 2016, Donald Trump ran against Washington insiders and top donors, mocking his opponents for their ties to the establishment and the monied class. In return, deep-pocketed GOP fundraisers largely shunned his campaign. But that’s all in the past now. On Tuesday, when the Trump campaign threw a major donor conference at the president’s Washington, DC, hotel, hundreds of Republican rainmakers showed up, ready to hit up their business and social networks for big-dollar checks for Trump. 

While the donors disappeared into the “Presidential Ballroom” at the Trump International Hotel, a handful of Trump World celebrities wandered through the lobby—Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale ate at the hotel’s steakhouse; Katrina Pierson, a senior adviser and prominent surrogate for the Trump campaign, strolled past the bar; and Trump’s former White House communications director (and former Fox News exec) Bill Shine chatted with guests. 

Invitations to the confab described it as a kickoff event for the Trump Victory Finance Committee, a collaborative effort between the president’s campaign and the Republican National Committee designed to lure in big donors. A key goal of the event was to launch the work of Trump fundraisers known as bundlers—financial supporters who not only contribute themselves but who collect large-dollar amounts from associates and friends. This approach to campaign cash-grabbing was originated by the George W. Bush campaign, which dubbed supporters who raised at least $100,000 “pioneers”—and afforded them exalted status in the GOP cosmos. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, which reviewed an informational packet for potential Trump bundlers, raising $100,000 for the president would qualify fundraisers for a “Builders Club” designation that would come with perks such as special briefings and commemorative gifts.

Campaigns do not have to disclose all their bundlers, so some of these Trump underwriters can remain secret. The Federal Election Commission only requires campaigns to publicly report bundlers if they are registered lobbyists. 

Jack Oliver, a co-founder of DC lobbying firm Bryan Cave, told NPR that he would be at the event and was advising the campaign on developing a donor network. (One invited GOP fundraiser described the shindig to Mother Jones as Oliver’s event.) A former national finance chair for the Bush campaign in 2000, Oliver didn’t raise money for Trump in 2016; he is exactly the type of establishment moneyman whose support the Trump campaign is now seeking.

Standing outside the Trump hotel, prominent Republican donor David Flaum, a former chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition and a real estate developer from Rochester, New York, estimated that at least 300 donors were inside for the event, which featured a visit from Vice President Mike Pence and talks from various Trump luminaries, including Kellyanne Conway and Lara Trump. Flaum, who was leaving the conference early to spend time with his family, explained his premature departure: “I’ve heard it all before. I came to show my face and to let people know I’m involved and on the team.” Asked why he was backing Trump, Flaum replied, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. When Trump says, ‘Never again,’ he means never again.” (He was referring to Trump’s controversial decision to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.) He also praised Trump’s economic policies, claiming Trump “has succeeded 1000-percent in jobs and wages.”

Flaum noted that in 2016 it was tough to get prominent and wealthy Republicans to cut checks for Trump’s campaign. But that’s all changed. “When I call people now, they can’t wait to give,” he said. 

Asked if there was a suggested amount for attendees at Tuesday’s event to donate or bring in, he shook his head: “No, but these people will raise a lot.”

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate