Donor list suggests scale of Trump's pay-for-access operation

Straits Times

7 days ago

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It is a cycle that has helped Mr Trump fill the coffers of his political groups, defying the gravity that sometimes drags down the fundraising of term-limited presidents.
WASHINGTON – When cryptocurrency entrepreneur Eric Schiermeyer heard that US President Donald Trump was holding small group dinners with major donors, he saw opportunity.
Mr Schiermeyer reached out to a lobbyist with connections in Mr Trump's orbit, who arranged for him to attend a dinner with the president at his private Mar-a-Lago club on March 1 in exchange for donations to a pro-Trump political action committee called Maga Inc totalling US$1 million (S$1.3 million).
The personal and corporate donations were among dozens of seven- and eight-figure contributions to Maga Inc from crypto and other interests revealed in a campaign finance filing on July 31 that hinted at the access Mr Trump accords those willing to pay.
At the dinner, Mr Schiermeyer, who had never given a federal political donation before, presented an idea for a cryptocurrency called 'USA Token' that would be distributed to every citizen, according to interviews and a flyer he distributed to attendees that sets out details of the proposal.
He hoped it could be supported through a federal contract with his company.
'I don't usually put time and attention on politics,' Mr Schiermeyer said in a text exchange with The New York Times.
But, he added, 'I was able to say my piece, and the idea is clearly making the rounds, so mission accomplished from my view.'
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While the Trump administration has not given Mr Schiermeyer any indication that it is pursuing the USA Token idea, the episode underscores the face time that Mr Trump has been willing to grant to deep-pocketed interests seeking business, preferential treatment or protection from him and his administration.
It also reveals how lobbyists, political consultants and others in the influence industry have capitalised on Mr Trump's aggressive fundraising while in office to deliver for clients and earn chits with a president who keeps close tabs on who is delivering cash and listens to their appeals.
It is a cycle that has helped Mr Trump fill the coffers of his political groups, defying the gravity that sometimes drags down the fundraising of term-limited presidents.
The degree to which this dynamic has benefited Mr Trump, his donors and their lobbyists – while shutting out regular people seeking assistance from their government – was laid bare in Maga Inc's financial report.
The group, which can accept unlimited donations, raised an astounding US$177 million in the first half of the year. That was nearly twice as much as the amount raised during the same period by the Republican National Committee, which is subject to contribution limits.
Maga Inc's report included donations from a mother seeking a pardon for her son, as well as people who had been, or would later be, appointed to posts in his administration and companies in industries seeking more lenient treatment than they had gotten under the administration of President Joe Biden.
It is not just Maga Inc that benefits.
Since Mr Trump's election last fall, fundraisers and lobbyists have been steering corporations and donors to a buffet of options for unlimited giving, some of which are less overtly political or allow anonymous donations, that can bring access to the president.
The president's inaugural committee raised a record-shattering US$239 million, including about US$18 million from crypto interests and US$1 million each from tech giants like Meta and Amazon that had drawn his ire in the past and were looking to smooth things over headed into his second term.
A nonprofit group called Securing American Greatness, which is affiliated with Maga Inc but is not required to disclose its donors, can accept cash from interests willing to pay for access without the controversy that can come with having that known.
Even the White House Historical Association has become a vehicle for lobbyists and favour-seekers.
After the dinner at Mar-a-Lago, the lobbyist who arranged Mr Schiermeyer's attendance brokered a US$200,000 donation to the historical association from his company, Blockchain Game Partners. It does business as Gala Games, producing video games and other entertainment as well as a virtual payment system.
Gala Games' donation qualified it as a sponsor of the White House Easter Egg Roll alongside major tech companies like Amazon and YouTube.
Mr Schiermeyer and other sponsors got to attend a breakfast at the White House on the morning of the event, and were mentioned by first lady Melania Trump in a news release that noted a new Gala product called the Digital White House Egg Hunt Game.
The first lady's office declined to comment. The historical association did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Maga Inc rejected suggestions that Mr Trump treated donors any differently than other Americans.
'President Trump values his supporters and donors, but unlike politicians before him, he cannot be bought and works toward the best interest of the country,' the spokesperson said.
Among the largest donors to Maga Inc were pipeline company Energy Transfer and its co-founder and executive chair Kelcy Warren. They combined to donate US$25 million, after Mr Warren spent heavily to support the Trump campaign. His company, which has seen its profits increase this year, has praised the Trump administration's industry-friendly approach to oil and gas permitting as good for business.
Cryptocurrency interests, which have benefited from the Trump administration's dismantling of a yearslong government crackdown and from the Trump family's financial interest in the industry, appear to have been the most generous industry, accounting for nearly US$45 million in donations to Maga Inc.
An affiliate of exchange Crypto.com gave US$10 million, while crypto services company Blockchain.com donated US$5 million. Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who are heavily invested in crypto, gave US$3 million each.
Ondo Finance, which has a partnership with the Trump family's crypto company, donated US$2.1 million to Maga Inc, on top of US$1 million to Mr Trump's inauguration.
Industry executives who gave to Maga Inc were invited to a White House crypto summit in March that included a broad cross-section of the most influential figures in the industry.
Among the attendees was an executive from Mr Andreessen's and Mr Horowitz's company. Also on the list were Mr Tyler and Mr Cameron Winklevoss, who run crypto exchange Gemini and contributed a combined total of nearly US$4 million to Maga Inc through the company and personal donations, and Mr Kyle Samani, a venture investor who donated US$200,000 after having donated US$250,000 to the inauguration.
On May 5, Maga Inc organised a 'crypto and AI innovators dinner' featuring Mr Trump at his golf club in Virginia. Among the attendees, according to two people who requested anonymity to discuss a private event, was Mr JP Richardson, the chief executive of crypto company Exodus, which donated US$1 million to Maga Inc in January.
'It is in the best interests of our company and its shareholders to support pro-crypto causes and candidates,' Mr Richardson said in a text message. 'We intend to continue backing similar efforts.'
A crypto company called Ava Labs donated US$1 million on April 2. The donation earned Ava's president, Mr John Wu, a spot at a fundraising reception with Mr Trump two days later at Mar-a-Lago, according to a person briefed on the April dinner who requested anonymity to discuss a private event. An invitation billed it as an intimate 'candlelight dinner' with 'very limited' space.
Also attending the dinner, according to the person briefed on it, was cosmetics heir Ronald S. Lauder, a longtime major political donor and supporter of Israel who donated US$5 million to Maga Inc in late March. The donation and the dinner could be interpreted as an olive branch from Lauder, who had drifted from Mr Trump's orbit after criticising him while he was out of office in 2022 for hosting Mr Nick Fuentes, an outspoken anti-semite and Holocaust denier, for dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
Another guest at the April dinner was businesswoman Elizabeth Fago.
While Ms Fago had raised money for Republican candidates for decades, her previous largest federal donation on record was US$100,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2002. Yet the day before the candlelight dinner, she donated US$1 million to Maga Inc.
She had particular incentive to curry favour with Mr Trump at the time.
As the Times has revealed, she was appealing to the president to pardon her son, Mr Paul Walczak, who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes in late 2024.
Less than three weeks after Ms Fago attended the dinner, Mr Trump signed a full and unconditional pardon for Mr Walczak. It spared him from having to pay nearly US$4.4 million in restitution and from reporting to prison for an 18-month sentence.
A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, suggested that the pardon was the result of Ms Fago's personal lobbying of Mr Trump, and not the donation.
'He spoke directly to a mother who pleaded for her son, and when you're talking to a mother pleading for her son, that's a pretty powerful thing,' the official said.
People seeking appointments from Mr Trump also donated to Maga Inc.
In February, Mr Anjani Sinha, an orthopedic surgeon and businessman who has been described as a friend of Mr Trump's, donated US$1 million. The next month, he was nominated to be US ambassador to Singapore.
Donors are often tapped as ambassadors, but Mr Sinha's nomination has drawn particular criticism.
During a Senate confirmation hearing in July, he
struggled to answer questions about Singapore and its relationship with the United States. Senator Tammy Duckworth called him 'unqualified' and urged him 'to shape up and do some homework'. His nomination is still pending.
Mr Cody Campbell, a Texas energy investor who had a brief professional football career with the Indianapolis Colts, donated US$500,000 to Maga Inc in late April. On July 31, he was named to the newly reconfigured President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
Mr Josh Lobel, a financial executive, donated US$250,000 in January. The next month, he was announced as a member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.
Then there is Mr Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur who led two private missions to orbit on rockets made by the company of his close associate, onetime Trump ally Elon Musk. Mr Trump tapped Mr Isaacman to be Nasa administrator soon after the election, but withdrew the nomination in May after Trump supporters objected to Mr Isaacman's previous donations to Democrats.
In late June, Mr Isaacman donated US$1 million to Maga Inc, in addition to more than US$440,000 to the RNC, around the time he mused to a reporter about running for Congress as a Republican or obtaining a different position in the Trump administration.
But if the donation to Maga Inc was intended to win back Mr Trump's favour, it may instead have revealed the limits of political contributions as a means to court the president.
Mr Isaacman came under fire from Trump in July – about a week after the donation – amid a flare-up of the president's feud with Mr Musk, who had donated US$5 million of his own to Maga Inc, around the same time as his ally.
Mr Trump wrote on social media that it was 'inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run Nasa, when Nasa is such a big part of Elon's corporate life. My Number One charge is to protect the American Public!' NYTIMES