Trump inaugural committee raised record-breaking $240mn
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Donald Trump raised more than $239mn for his second inauguration, federal filings showed, a record-breaking sum as some of the most powerful US chief executives sought to curry favour with the incoming president.
The filings, disclosed on Sunday, showed that most of the largest US companies made a donation, particularly those in the technology sector.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook, OpenAI boss Sam Altman and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi each gave $1mn, as did Nvidia, Google, Meta, Broadcom, Perplexity AI, C3.AI, Micron, Qualcomm and Intuit.
Retail trading platform Robinhood gave $2mn, while crypto companies Coinbase and Solana each donated $1mn. IBM and Microsoft gave $750,000.
Many of America’s leading chief executives and billionaires attended Trump’s inauguration, including Cook, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, Google boss Sundar Pichai and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
The fundraising haul — more than twice the $107mn Trump raised in 2017 — spanned major American industries.
Financial giants including JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs each donated $1mn to the committee, as did telecommunications companies AT&T, Comcast and Verizon.
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, energy groups ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Occidental Petroleum, pharmaceutical groups Merck and Pfizer, and automakers Stellantis, Hyundai, General Motors and Toyota each gave $1mn. Chevron gave $2mn.
US brands McDonald’s, FedEx, Target and Boeing were joined by lesser known companies such as Bank OZK and Breeze Smoke in donating $1mn or more.
Trump also raised millions from America’s wealthy elite, including $1mn from conservative megadonors Miriam Adelson, widow of the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, and Marlene Ricketts, wife of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts. He gave $100,000.
Citadel’s Ken Griffin, Elliott Management’s Paul Singer, Estée Lauder heir Ron Lauder, and former PayPal executives Ken Howery, who previously served as Trump’s ambassador to Sweden, and Keith Rabois also each gave $1mn.
Jared Isaacman, the president’s pick to lead Nasa, donated $2mn. Education secretary and former wrestling promoter Linda McMahon donated $1mn. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent donated $250,000 and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick’s Cantor Fitzgerald gave $1,047,000 — a nod to the 47th US president.
Trump’s committee received $4mn from Warren Stephens, $2mn from Melissa Argyros, $1mn from Tilman Fertitta and Dan Newlin and $250,000 from Nicole McGraw, the president’s picks to be the US ambassador to the UK, Latvia, Italy, Colombia and Croatia respectively.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp, a major poultry producer, gave more than any other entity, donating $5mn.
