Former US President Donald Trump’s entourage is far from poor: many of his billionaire friends are generously funding his campaign.
Article by Leo Kamin, with assistance from Zach Everson and Phoebe Liu, for Forbes US – translated by Flora Lucas
“I don’t need anyone’s money”declared Donald Trump at the start of his presidential campaign in 2016, for which he had to pay $66 million. “I don’t appeal to donors. »
In fact, the former US president did appeal to donors in 2016, but not to the extent he does today. So far, Donald Trump has not invested a dollar of his personal fortune in his campaign, while many billionaires have given millions of dollars to groups supporting him (and in some cases, other candidates as well).
The top 10 billionaire donors to Donald Trump’s campaign are all longtime supporters of the former president. According to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission, they have already given $123 million to groups supporting the candidate during this campaign. That may seem like a lot, but the group of donors has a combined estimated net worth of $55 billion, giving them immense firepower. More donation checks are expected in the coming months as the United States prepares to decide, for the third time, whether Donald Trump should win the White House.
#1. Timothy Mellon
Donations to campaign groups for Donald Trump : $76.5 million | Net worth : more than a billion dollars
A descendant of the Mellon family, whose fortune of around $14 billion dates back to the Gilded Age (literally “Gilded Age,” the period in American history that spanned from 1865 to 1901, editor’s note), Timothy Mellon surprised everyone by donating $50 million to a pro-Trump Super PAC the day after the former president was convicted by a New York jury on 34 charges. The billionaire, who donated $20 million to another pro-Trump campaign group in 2020, started a computer programming company in the 1960s and then began buying railroads to form a company, which he sold in 2022 for $600 million. He also spent more than $1 million trying to find the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s plane.
#2. Linda McMahon (wife of Vince McMahon)
Donations to campaign groups for Donald Trump : $11.1 million | Net worth : $2.9 billion
Linda McMahon, whose husband turned a regional wrestling league into a multi-billion dollar empire (World Wrestling EntertainmentWWE), was at the head of the Small Business Administration (an independent agency of the U.S. government dedicated to helping, advising, assisting, and protecting the interests of small businesses) during Donald Trump’s first term in the White House. She left her post to co-chair the main pro-Trump Super PAC for the 2020 election. Her husband, Vince McMahon, resigned as executive chairman of WWE’s parent company in January following allegations of sexual misconduct. Today, Linda McMahon, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012, chairs the nonprofit America First Policy Institutea supporter of Donald Trump (Fox Business host Larry Kudlow is its vice president). She also sits on the board of directors of the Trump Media and Technology Group.
#3. Kelcy Warren
Donations to Donald Trump campaign groups : $5.8 million | Net worth : $6.3 billion
Kelcy Warren is the executive chairman of Energy Transfer, the company that owns the pipeline Dakota Access Pipelinea project that Donald Trump helped accelerate after taking office in 2017. The pipeline began operations later that year, and Kelcy Warren, who gave $100,000 to Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016, has remained loyal to the former US president. He has given more than $11 million to support his re-election, and he has already given nearly $6 million to pro-Trump campaign groups this year.
#4. Diane Hendricks
Donations to Donald Trump campaign groups : $5.5 million | Net worth : $20.9 billion
Donald Trump didn’t bat an eyelid when former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker withdrew from the presidential race in 2015. “See if you can get his one vote, Corey.”, Donalt Trump taunted his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski at the time. The real estate mogul ended up attracting Scott Walker’s main backer, Diane Hendricks, the self-made woman the richest in the United States. Diand Hendricks served as vice chair of one of the former US president’s fundraising committees in 2016, donated more than $6 million in 2020, and has already given $5.5 million since start of the current campaign. Former Playboy bunny Diane Hendricks co-founded ABC Supply with her late husband before growing it into a $20 billion building materials giant.
#5. Timothy Dunn
Donations to Donald Trump campaign groups : $5 million | Net worth : $2.2 billion
Timothy Dunn got rich from the West Texas oil fields, where he founded a private well-operating company called CrownQuest. He began supporting Donald Trump in 2020 but has increased his donations since the start of the current campaign. In December, Dunn gave $5 million to the largest pro-Trump Super PAC. He has given an additional $2.5 million to other Republican campaign committees, including those supporting Indiana Rep. Jim Banks and Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
#6. Elizabeth Uihlein
Donations to Donald Trump campaign groups : $5 million | Net worth : $6.6 billion
#7. Richard Uihlein
Donations to Donald Trump campaign groups : 5 million dollars | Net worth : $6.6 billion
Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein founded Wisconsin-based packaging materials company Uline in their basement in 1980. Today, the company has annual sales of $6.1 billion and the couple’s net worth stands at $13.2 billion, becoming a major source of Republican campaign funding: Uihlein has donated $84 million to the 2022 midterms alone. They have been fairly consistent supporters of Donald Trump, giving more than $500,000 to a pro-Trump campaign group in 2016 and more than $1 million in 2020. However, Uihlein also gave $2 million to an anti-Trump campaign group during the 2016 primaries, and last year the couple gave $3 million to a Super PAC supporting Trump opponent Ron DeSantis. The Uihleins are now fully on board the former president’s campaign train: Last month, Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein wrote checks for $5 million each to the main pro-Trump Super PAC.
#8. Phil Ruffin
Donations to Donald Trump campaign groups : $3.3 million | Net worth : $2.6 billion
Few billionaires are closer to Donald Trump than Phil Ruffin, who co-owns the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. After the former US president failed to secure more money from Deutsche Bank during his 2016 campaign, Phil Ruffin and Donald Trump took out a $30 million mortgage. Over the next six weeks, the former president poured $12 million of his personal fortune into his campaign. The billionaire’s empire also includes the Treasure Island and Circus Circus casinos, mainstays of the Las Vegas Strip. Phil Ruffin, who married his wife Oleksandra at Mar-a-Lago, with Donald Trump as best man, has already given more money to pro-Trump campaign groups in 2024 than he did in the last two elections.
#9. Geoffrey Palmer
Donations to Donald Trump campaign groups : $3 million | Net worth : $3.1 billion
Geoffrey Palmer is one of Los Angeles’ largest landlords, with a real estate portfolio that includes more than 11,000 apartments. His involvement in politics is not new. In the 1990s, his company was fined for laundering campaign funds in California to avoid contribution limits. Election rules, however, are not as strict as they once were, and Palmer can now pour as much money into federal elections as he wants. He gave $6.3 million to pro-Trump Super PACs in 2016 and $10.5 million in 2020. He has already given $3 million in 2024.
#10. Robert « Woody » Johnson
Donations to Donald Trump campaign groups : $2.7 million | Net worth : $3.2 billion
The New York Jets owner, heir to healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, served as the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. under Donald Trump. One of the tasks the former U.S. president reportedly gave him was to secure the hosting of the British Open at Trump Turnberry, a historic golf course the former president purchased two and a half years before taking office. Robert “Woody” Johnson failed in his mission, but he remained loyal to Donald Trump, courting wealthy Republicans who had turned away from the former president after the Capitol riot, according to CNBC. Robert “Woody” Johnson has donated $1.9 million to Trump-supporting groups over the course of the campaign, and his wife has contributed more than $800,000.
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