前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)和共和党周六晚上正式启动了他们的高额大选筹款活动，主要捐赠者——包括他的忠实拥护者和刚刚退出的观望者——聚集在佛罗里达州棕榈滩，支持共和党的推定提名人。
前第一夫人梅兰妮·特朗普第二次被公开看到与前总统一起出现在政治场合，上一次她被公开看到与丈夫一起出现在一个场合轮询位置佛罗里达州初选当天在棕榈滩。
据组织者称，这场由亿万富翁约翰·保尔森主持的筹款活动已经为特朗普竞选团队和共和党筹集了超过5000万美元的资金，这将使乔·拜登总统与前总统巴拉克·奥巴马和比尔·克林顿上周末在纽约州的筹款活动黯然失色，他们在那里筹集了2600万美元。
特朗普和共和党在特朗普成为共和党推定提名人之前一直无法共同筹集资金，因此处于不利地位。根据各自竞选团队宣布的数据，特朗普和RNC进入4月时银行存款比拜登竞选团队和民主党的1。9亿美元战争资金少1亿美元。
然而，特朗普竞选团队将周六的筹款活动宣传为其主要大选筹款活动的开始，而富裕的共和党捐赠者团结在他身后，声称这是前总统筹款能力的展示，将使他们迅速缩小与民主党对手的差距。
特朗普竞选团队发言人丹尼尔·阿尔瓦雷斯在一份声明中说:“唐纳德·j·特朗普是三位民主党总统筹集了2500万美元，一位总统筹集了5000多万美元。”
周六晚上，在走进东道主约翰·保尔森的家之前，川普简短地对媒体发表了讲话，称赞这是一个“不可思议的夜晚”。
“这是一个不可思议的夜晚，因为人们希望为让美国再次伟大的事业做出贡献。”他强调了11月选举日的重要性。
据披露，这场活动为特朗普竞选团队、共和党全国委员会、数十个州共和党委员会以及特朗普的“拯救美国领导委员会”筹集了资金，每位捐款人最高可达5000美元，这笔资金涵盖了他的数千万美元法律账单。
根据美国广播公司新闻获得的筹款活动邀请函，特朗普周六筹款活动的联合主席包括几位前大使和特朗普政府官员，如前小企业管理员琳达·麦克马洪和前商务部长威尔伯·罗斯以及纽约喷气机队老板伍迪·约翰逊。
邀请函称，前特朗普胜选财务主席托德·里基茨、能源大亨哈罗德·哈姆、航空业高管罗伯特·毕格罗、对冲基金经理罗伯特·默瑟和他的女儿丽贝卡·默瑟以及赌场大亨菲尔·鲁芬也是联席主席。
“今晚，我们为特朗普总统的连任筹集了历史性的5050万美元，”保尔森周六晚上在给ABC新闻的一份声明中写道。“这场门票售罄的活动筹集了历史上最大的一次政治筹款活动。这种压倒性的支持表明了对特朗普总统及其政策的热情。”
周六早些时候，拜登在X、Instagram和脸书上的一段筹款视频中瞄准了特朗普的筹款活动，感谢草根捐赠者为他的竞选活动做出的贡献，并批评特朗普只参加了富裕捐赠者的筹款活动。
拜登说:“伙计们，你们知道，特朗普今天正在佛罗里达州向一群对冲基金亿万富翁筹款。“这场竞选是斯克兰顿对棕榈滩，这是护士、教师、消防员和警察对唐纳德·特朗普和几个亿万富翁寻求减税的草根运动。”
上周末拜登与奥巴马和克林顿的筹款活动门票上涨至50万美元，低于特朗普周六晚上筹款活动的门票，但拜登竞选团队和民主党已接受超过80万美元的捐款。
Trump's Palm Beach fundraiser, joined by Melania Trump, rakes in $50 million, organizers say
Former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party officially kicked off their high-dollar general election fundraising operation Saturday evening, with major donors -- both his vocal loyalists and those just now getting off the sidelines -- gathering in Palm Beach, Florida, to throw support behind the GOP's presumptive nominee.
For the second time this election cycle, former first lady Melania Trump was publicly seen joining the former president for a political occasion, after she was last seen with her husband publicly at apolling locationin Palm Beach on Florida's primary election day.
The fundraiser, hosted by billionaire John Paulson, has brought in more than $50 million for the Trump campaign and the Republican Party, according to the organizers, which would eclipse President Joe Biden's fundraiser with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton in New York last weekend, where they said they raised $26 million.
Trump and the Republican Party, which had been disadvantaged by not being able to raise money together until Trump became the party's presumptive nominee, had a big fundraising gap to catch up to – with Trump and the RNC entering April with $100 million less in the bank compared to the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party's $190 million war chest, according to figures announced by the respective campaigns.
The Trump campaign, however, touted Saturday's fundraiser as the beginning of its major general election fundraising push while wealthy Republican donors unite behind him, claiming it's a show of the former president's fundraising prowess that will allow them to quickly close the gap with their Democratic counterparts.
"It took three Democrat presidents to raise $25 million and one president to raise over $50 million, Donald J. Trump," Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Before walking into host John Paulson's house Saturday evening, Trump briefly spoke to the press, touting what an "incredible evening" the night has already been.
"This has been some incredible evening before it even starts because people wanted to contribute to a cause of making America great again," he said, as he stressed the importance of November Election Day.
Ticketed north of $800,000 per donor, the event raised money for the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, and dozens of state GOP committees as well as Trump's Save America leadership PAC -- up to $5,000 per donor -- which has covered tens of millions of dollars of his legal bills, according to disclosures.
Co-chairs of Trump's Saturday fundraiser include several former ambassadors and Trump administration officials like former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon and former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross as well as New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, according to an invitation to the fundraiser that was obtained by ABC News.
Former Trump Victory finance chair Todd Ricketts, energy mogul Harold Hamm, aerospace executive Robert Bigelow, hedge fund manager Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah Mercer and casino tycoon Phil Ruffin are also among the co-chairs, the invitation said.
"Tonight, we raised an historic $50.5 million for the re-election of President Trump," Paulson wrote in a statement to ABC News Saturday evening. "This sold-out event has raised the most in a single political fundraiser in history. This overwhelming support demonstrates the enthusiasm for President Trump and his policies."
Earlier on Saturday, Biden took aim at Trump's fundraiser in a fundraising video on X, Instagram and Facebook thanking grassroots donors for their contributions to his campaign and criticizing Trump for attending a fundraiser for only wealthy donors.
"Folks, you know, Trump is down in Florida today raising money from a bunch of hedge fund billionaires," Biden said. "This campaign is Scranton vs. Palm Beach, this is a grassroots campaign of nurses and teachers and firefighters and cops versus Donald Trump and a couple of billionaires looking for a tax cut."
Tickets for Biden's fundraiser with Obama and Clinton last weekend went up to $500,000, lower than the tickets for Trump's fundraiser Saturday night, but the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party have accepted donations north of $800,000.
