(Washington) Donald Trump is organizing a gigantic fundraising evening in Florida on Saturday, a new crucial episode in the war on big donations which pits the Republican and Joe Biden in the race for the White House.
In American electoral life, money, far from being a taboo, is a source of pride for the side that amasses the most. It is also an essential windfall: 2024 promises to be the most expensive electoral cycle in the country’s history.
The two candidates have been engaged in this war for millions for months, regularly sharing laudatory press releases on the state of their finances.
This competition of muscles accelerated with the holding of a large reception in New York at the end of March, during which Democratic President Joe Biden raised $25 million, “a record” according to his campaign team.
On Saturday, its tempestuous rival hopes to collect almost twice as much – between 43 and 50 million dollars, according to American media.
PHOTO SETH WENIG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
John Paulson and Donald Trump and November 2019
The former Republican president will participate in a fundraising evening organized by billionaire John Paulson, one of the rare financiers to have profited from the 2008-2009 financial crisis thanks to his bets on the collapse of the real estate market.
The event is held in Palm Beach, not far from Donald Trump’s luxurious residence, Mar-a-Lago.
US$814,600
Guests include businessman Robert Bigelow, who made his fortune in the hotel business before running an aerospace research company, and John Catsimatidis, owner of a major grocery store chain.
Both men are known to be major donors to the Republican Party.
Some former rivals of Donald Trump in the Republican primaries will also be present: Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum… These men have since completely embraced the candidacy of the septuagenarian and hope to find a place in a hypothetical Trump 2.0 administration.
According to the Washington PostDonald Trump’s seat at the table will be charged… US$814,600.
These crazy sums are used to finance candidates’ travel, to pay their teams, to commission surveys or, and perhaps above all, to pay for television advertisements.
Joe Biden, who likes to portray himself as a hero of the middle class, was quick to criticize the event organized by his Republican opponent in a post on social networks on Saturday.
“Donald Trump is organizing a fundraiser with a group of financial billionaires who want to slash Social Security and Medicare while giving themselves tax cuts,” he said. he accuses.
The Democrat currently has better campaign coffers than Donald Trump, criminally charged four times, who spends part of the money collected from his supporters on legal fees.
His team relishes this financial advantage, even calling out “broke Don” in a recent email about the billionaire, himself a big fan of cruel nicknames.