Not to be outdone by President Biden, Donald Trump’s White House campaign is planning a major South Florida fundraiser next week that aims to bring in $33 million and help the presumptive GOP nominee close the money gap between himself and the incumbent, sources close to the Republican tell The Post.
The April 6 Palm Beach event, first reported by the Financial Times and hosted by billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, will take place nine days after Biden puts on a star-studded fundraiser at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, which the president’s campaign has dubbed the “most successful political fundraiser in American history.”
A Trump campaign rep told The Post the $33 million haul will be “the largest amount by 100% for an event of its type in RNC history.”
The Biden event is expected to bring in $25 million and draw 5,000 attendees who will have the chance to hear from the president and former chief executives Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — and even get their picture taken with the trio.
The fight for funds between Biden and Trump escalated after the two secured enough delegates to win the nominations at their respective party conventions this summer. The Biden camp has boasted about their large cash flow compared to Trump, who is fighting a mountain of legal bills in addition to funding his campaign.
In February, the Biden campaign raised $53 million, while Trump’s camp brought in a relatively paltry $20 million.
The Democrat’s campaign also reported having $155 million in cash on hand at the end of last month, compared to Trump’s $42 million.
Trump’s team has acknowledged it won’t raise as much money as the Biden campaign, but insists that won’t stop them from winning.
“The RNC and campaign do not expect to have as much money as Biden and the Democrats, who not only didn’t have a primary to spend on but who are bankrolled by Hollywood and Silicon Valley elites, but we will have an ample amount to run an effective and winning campaign,” a Trump campaign rep told The Post.
“Donald Trump is a ratings and clicks juggernaut so we have an ability to make use of earned media in a way that Biden cannot.”
Trump’s Palm Beach event indicates that the former president still has support from major donors, despite his legal troubles.
According to the FT, the event invitation lists 38 co-chairs — including the former ambassador to the United Kingdom and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, sugar billionaire Pepe Fanjul, oil and gas magnate Harold Hamm, casino billionaires Steve Wynn and Phil Ruffin and former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
“Our digital online fundraising continues to skyrocket, our major donor investments are climbing, and Democrats are running scared of the fundraising prowess of President Trump,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“We are not only raising the necessary funds but we are deploying strategic assets that will help send President Trump back to the White House and carry Republicans over the finish line.”
Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee and the super PAC Save America, all vehicles for funding the former president’s campaign efforts, have seen steadily increasing cash flow in recent weeks.
Over the past six days, the campaign has brought in $1 million each day from online donors and raised more than $10.6 million last week, a campaign rep said.
Save America and the Trump 47 Joint Fundraising Committee will post more than $32 million in digital fundraising alone in March at an average contribution of $4, and the MAGA, Inc. super PAC, will end March with at least $30M cash on hand, they added.
