President-elect Donald Trump will take office in less than three weeks.
In the meantime, he continues to craft his policy agenda and make key appointments for his second administration.
He is also raking in substantial amounts of money.
From Meta and Coinbase to Ford and GM, businesses and CEOs are contributing large sums to Trump’s inauguration and future presidential library as the president-elect prepares to enter the Oval Office for a second term.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is the latest to contribute $1 million of his own money to Trump’s inaugural committee, according to Axios.
Trump has so far collected a total of at least $200 million, according to The New York Times, which spoke to sources involved in the fundraising. At least $150 million of that will go toward his inaugural, far more than the $107 million he raised for the event in 2017.
The super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. is also set to benefit from the cash infusion, giving Trump’s allies a powerful vehicle to boost his conservative plans on everything from tax policy to the environment, as well as the GOP lawmakers who’ll back his agenda.
David Tamasi, a Washington lobbyist, waved off the notion that donors were contributing to Trump to stay on his good side. However, he told the Times that some leaders may seek to build rapport after being detached from the president-elect’s orbit.
“It is a time-honored DC tradition that corporations are enthusiastically embracing this cycle in all manners, largely because they were on the sidelines during previous Trump cycles,” Tamasi said. “They no longer have to hedge their political bets.”
There are virtually no limits to contributions for inaugural committees, and corporations have traditionally funded inaugurations regardless of the political party of the incoming commander in chief.
President Joe Biden’s inaugural committee raised $63.8 million for his 2021 inauguration, according to FEC filings.
Trump’s relationships with many top business leaders became rocky during his first term, namely in the aftermath of the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white nationalist groups sparked violent clashes. The January 6, 2021 attack at the US Capitol, days before Trump left office, led several companies to pause financial contributions to GOP politicians who had voted to overturn the 2020 presidential results.
Even during the 2024 presidential campaign, some business leaders stayed out of the political fray, while others, like LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings, supported Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
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