Report: Trump’s Inaugural Committee Raises $170M, Shattering Records

Companies and top executives appear eager to curry favor with President-elect Donald Trump as he readies to take office later this month.

Trump’s inaugural committee raised over $170 million thus far, a record amount of money for any previous inaugural committee, five people briefed on the conversations told the New York Times’ Theodore Schleifer Maggie Haberman, and Kenneth P. Vogel.

The inaugural committee is also reportedly no longer selling tickets to donors to attend Trump’s swearing-in and accompanying private events.

The record number comes just four years after many of the same companies and executives turned their backs on Trump following the 2020 election.

The Times reported the remarkable shift in corporate attitude towards Trump:

Mr. Trump often talks privately about who has supported him, and the frenzy to donate to his inauguration — even if it comes without the usual exclusive access — underscores the degree to which deep-pocketed donors and corporations are seeking to curry favor with him. Far more than in early 2017 at the start of his first term, corporate America has largely embraced Mr. Trump during his transition, partly out of a desire to get on his good side.

Prospective donors began to be told early this week that no more seats were available for certain events around Washington, according to the people briefed on the conversations. The personalized donation link that fund-raisers had circulated to their networks of major contributors no longer worked on Tuesday and Wednesday. The packages offered to corporate and individual donors had originally been marketed as available through Friday, but they ended early given the extraordinary demand.

…

On account of the shortage of seating at V.I.P. events, some donors have taken the unusual step of offering donations as high as $1 million without receiving anything in return. Seats at the inaugural address, tickets to the ritzy balls or access to other events are typically a major part of why major donors cut checks. Inaugural events are a key time for the lobbying industry, and they draw donations from corporations and wealthy donors eager to gain influence or make amends with a new administration.

Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.