由于恶劣天气，前总统唐纳德·特朗普取消了周六在北卡罗来纳州的集会。
“我们想保证每个人的安全。这是最重要的事情，”特朗普在对威尔明顿集会人群的直播电话中说，并补充说他们将“改期”。
集会本应在威尔明顿航空中心的户外举行。这一宣布是在特朗普计划于美国东部时间晚上7点上台前大约30分钟做出的。周六晚上，国家气象局发布了该地区的严重雷暴警告。
自本周早些时候纽约刑事审判开始以来，这将是他的首次竞选集会。特朗普否认了此案中的所有不当行为。
他和梅兰妮·特朗普周六在不同的州举行了激烈的筹款活动，前总统在现已取消的集会之前为他的竞选活动和北卡罗来纳州的共和党筹款，前第一夫人晚上在棕榈滩的Mar-a-Lago俱乐部为一个保守的LGBT团体筹款。
尤其是对梅兰妮·特朗普来说，这是她在筹款活动上的罕见露面，因为她在这个选举周期的大部分时间里都没有参加这位前总统的竞选活动，而是偶尔出现在他的私人活动中。
她最近两次公开露面是在本月早些时候为特朗普和共和党举行的一次大型棕榈滩筹款活动上，他们在那里筹集了5000多万美元，以及上个月在前总统在佛罗里达州共和党初选中投票的棕榈滩投票站。
她在木屋共和党筹款会上担任主角，木屋共和党是美国最大的501(c)4非营利组织，代表LGBT保守派。
这场筹款活动由唐纳德·特朗普的一系列长期盟友和知名共和党捐赠者共同主办，其中包括前美国驻德国大使理查德·格雷内尔，他也曾在特朗普政府担任国家情报代理主任。他是第一个在美国担任内阁级职位的公开同性恋者。
无畏号航空航天博物馆的前主席、前总统比尔·怀特及其丈夫布莱恩·厄尔的积极筹款人也在共同主持人之列。
根据一位消息人士和筹款活动的邀请函，其他著名嘉宾和共同主持人包括前特朗普支持的宾夕法尼亚州参议员候选人穆罕默德·奥兹博士，他在2022年大选中输给了民主党参议员约翰·费特曼，福克斯新闻频道首席执行官罗杰·艾尔斯的遗孀伊丽莎白·艾尔斯，共和党长期捐赠者索尔·福克斯和前巨人董事长彼得·马戈万的妻子黛博拉·马戈万。
根据邀请函，每张票的价格为1万美元。
在周六上午的筹款活动之前，格雷内尔在X上发文称，梅兰妮·特朗普“将发起我们见过的共和党人最积极的竞选活动，以赢得美国同性恋者的支持。”
“我们在很大程度上实现了美国同性恋的平等，”格雷内尔写道，称赞美国是自由的捍卫者，并支持唐纳德·特朗普。
“他是我们安全、保障和繁荣的最佳人选，”他继续说。“他认为你是100%平等的——负责任、勤奋和成功取决于你自己。任何人告诉你，你在美国受到压迫，或者因为你是同性恋而需要特殊的附带协议，都只是在试图控制你。从他们居高临下的邪教式操纵中挣脱出来。”
“在美国，你可以成为任何你想成为的人，”他继续说，特朗普将在2024年赢得大量同性恋选票。
筹款活动的一名组织者告诉ABC新闻，活动在36小时内售罄，并已筹集了100多万美元，即使他们无法参加活动，也会有更多人捐款。
组织者表示，预计约有70人将参加此次活动，他们来自全国各地——加利福尼亚州、纽约州、佐治亚州、田纳西州、德克萨斯州和华盛顿特区。
“第一夫人选择这作为她的第一场竞选活动是保守的共和党同性恋群体的荣誉，”组织者告诉ABC新闻。“绝对否定了拜登和民主党人兜售的关于特朗普政府的错误说法。”
“特朗普扩大了各种少数族裔的共和党基础，这与其他任何共和党人都不同，”组织者继续说。“木屋有一个明确的计划，说明这笔钱将如何用于教育选民了解特朗普总统的记录，并帮助他在摇摆州的同性恋群体中获胜。”
保险经纪公司WillisTowersWatson的SVP对前第一夫人表示感谢，并表示在拜登政府执政三年后，许多同性恋选民对自己的未来感到担忧。
“同性恋选民不再是一个问题的选民，”厄尔说，并指出他和他的丈夫怀特已经合法结婚近13年。他补充说，2024年大选是拜登和特朗普的第二任期之战，“我们知道我们从这两位候选人身上得到了什么-唯一要问的问题是，特朗普和拜登谁更好。我们相信特朗普总统是我们的唯一选择。”
多年来，梅兰妮·特朗普一直与木屋共和党人保持着密切的关系，她在2021年的Mar-a-Lago年度晚会上担任主角，并获得了该组织的林肯精神奖，以表彰她在“帮助儿童充分发挥潜力”和“倡导更具包容性的共和党”方面的作用2022年，唐纳德·特朗普本人在Mar-a-Lago举行的木屋共和党人林肯精神庆祝活动上担任主角，他告诉观众，“我们正在为同性恋群体而战，我们正在努力奋斗。”
与此同时，周六下午在北卡罗来纳州夏洛特，特朗普与共和党全国委员会主席迈克尔·沃特利(Michael Whatley)以及特朗普的儿媳和RNC联席主席劳拉·特朗普(Lara Trump)一起筹集资金。沃特利曾是北卡罗来纳州共和党主席。
根据活动邀请和组织者的说法，这场筹款活动的门票从每对夫妇5000美元的普通门票到每对夫妇25万美元的主办委员会门票不等，预计至少能筹集500万美元。与前总统合影的价格为每对夫妇2.5万美元，圆桌会议的价格为每对夫妇10万美元。
此次筹款活动筹集的资金将在特朗普竞选团队、特朗普的拯救美国政治行动委员会(为特朗普支付了大部分法律费用)、RNC和其他40个州共和党委员会之间分配。
筹款活动的著名联合主持人包括北卡罗来纳州全国委员会委员埃德·布罗伊希尔(Ed Broyhill)和陆军退伍军人斯科特·格林布拉特(Scott Greenblatt)。布罗伊希尔曾在2016年担任特朗普的北卡罗来纳州财政委员会主席。格林布拉特经营着一家退伍军人索赔咨询公司。
筹款活动结束后，特朗普原定前往威尔明顿参加集会，但由于天气恶劣，集会在最后一刻取消。
“似乎有一些雷声和闪电，这是一场相当大的风暴。所以如果你们不介意的话，我们只能改天了，”特朗普告诉人群。“我很难过——我现在在北卡罗来纳州，正等着进去，但他们说天气真的越来越糟糕了。真的真的变坏了。所以我们必须依靠气象局。”
北卡罗来纳州筹款会之前，民主党北卡罗来纳州州长罗伊·库珀表示，尽管特朗普在2016年和2020年都赢得了该州，但乔·拜登总统可以赢得该州。拜登和哈里斯上个月都在北卡罗来纳州竞选，强调了他们的医疗保健信息。
然而，特朗普筹款活动的联合主持人之一布罗伊尔告诉美国广播公司新闻，北卡罗来纳州是共和党的大本营，声称共和党在选票席位上取得了成功。
“当人们说这是一个紫色的州时，我不知道他们在谈论什么，”Broyhill说。“乔·拜登根本不可能接近赢得北卡罗来纳州。”
“有相当多的顶级捐助者正在飞往这里，一旦他们到达，他们的期望将远远超过500万英镑，”Broyhill在谈到即将到来的筹款活动时说。
Donald Trump rally in North Carolina canceled due to severe weather
Former President Donald Trump canceled a rally in North Carolina on Saturday due to severe weather.
"We want to keep everybody safe. That's the most important thing," Trump was heard saying in a live phone call blasted out to the crowd gathered at the rally in Wilmington, adding that they will "just do a rain check."
The rally was supposed to take place outdoors at the Aero Center Wilmington. The announcement was made roughly 30 minutes before Trump was scheduled to take the stage at 7 p.m. ET. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the region Saturday evening.
The event would have been his first campaign rally since the New York criminal trial started earlier this week. Trump has denied all wrongdoing in the case.
He and Melania Trump held dueling fundraisers in different states on Saturday, the former president raising money for his campaign and the Republican Party in North Carolina in the afternoon ahead of the now-canceled rally and the former first lady raising money for a conservative LGBT group at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach in the evening.
Especially for Melania Trump, it was a rare appearance at a fundraising event as she has mostly stayed away from the former president's campaign trail this election cycle and instead only occasionally been seen at private events at his properties.
The last two times she was seen publicly were at a major Palm Beach fundraiser for Trump and the Republicans earlier this month where they raised more than $50 million and last month at a Palm Beach polling location where the former president voted in the Florida Republican primary.
She headlined the fundraiser for Log Cabin Republicans, the largest 501(c)4 nonprofit organization representing LGBT conservatives in the United States.
The fundraiser was co-hosted by a slew of longtime Donald Trump allies and prominent Republican donors, including former U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who also served as acting director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. He was the first openly gay person to hold a Cabinet-level position in the United States.
Former president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum and an active fundraiser of the former president Bill White and his husband Bryan Eure were also among the co-hosts.
Other notable guests and co-hosts included former Trump-endorsed Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, who lost to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman in the 2022 general election, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes' widow Elizabeth Ailes, longtime Republican donor Saul Fox and Deborah Magowan, the wife of former Giants Chairman Peter Magowan, according to a source and an invitation for the fundraiser.
According to the invitation, each ticket cost $10,000.
Ahead of the fundraiser Saturday morning, Grenell posted on X that Melania Trump "will launch the most aggressive campaign we've ever seen from Republicans to win support from gay and lesbian Americans."
"We have largely achieved equality in America for gays," Grenell wrote, praising the United States as the champion of freedom and liberties and throwing support for Donald Trump.
"He is the best candidate for our safety, security and prosperity," he continued. "He sees you as 100% equal - it's up to you to be responsible, hardworking and successful. Anyone telling you that you are oppressed in America or that you need special side agreements because you're gay is only seeking to control you. Break out from their condescending cult-like manipulations."
"You can be anything you want to be in America," he continued, saying Trump will win a significant amount of the gay vote in 2024.
An organizer of the fundraiser told ABC News that the event sold out within 36 hours and has already raised more than $1 million, with additional people donating even if they couldn't attend the event.
Roughly 70 people from all across the country – California, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C. – were expected to attend the event, the organizer said.
"For the first lady to choose this as her first campaign event is an honor to the conservative Republican gay community," the organizer told ABC News. "Definitely negates the false narrative that Biden and the Democrats have peddled about the Trump administration."
"Trump has grown the Republican base of all types of minorities unlike any other Republican has," the organizer continued. "The Log Cabin has a clear plan of how this money will be spent to educate voters about President Trump's record and to help him win with the gay community in swing states."
Eure, SVP at insurance brokerage firm WillisTowersWatson, expressed gratitude toward the former first lady and said many gay voters are concerned about their future after three years under the Biden administration.
"Gay voters are no longer one issue voters," Eure said, noting he and his husband White have been legally married for almost 13 years. Adding the 2024 election is a battle for second term for both Biden and Trump, he said, "We know what we are getting with both of these candidates - the only question to ask is were you better off with Trump or Biden. We believe President Trump is the only choice for us."
Melania Trump has maintained a close relationship with Log Cabin Republicans over the years, headlining their annual gala at Mar-a-Lago in 2021 and receiving the group's Spirit of Lincoln award, for her role in "helping children reach their full potential" and "championing a more inclusive Republican Party." In 2022, Donald Trump himself headlined Log Cabin Republicans' Spirit of Lincoln gala held at Mar-a-Lago, where he told the audience, "we are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard."
Meanwhile in Charlotte, North Carolina, Saturday afternoon, Trump fundraised with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who was previously the North Carolina Republican Party's chairman, as well as Trump's daughter-in-law and RNC Co-chair Lara Trump.
Ticketed from $5,000 per couple for general admission to $250,000 per couple to be on the host-committee, the fundraiser was expected to raise at least $5 million, according to the event's invitation and the organizer. A photo opportunity with the former president is priced at $25,000 per couple and a roundtable would cost $100,000 per couple.
Money raised from this fundraiser would be split among the Trump campaign, Trump's Save America PAC, which has footed much of Trump's legal bills, the RNC and 40 other state GOP committees.
Notable co-hosts of the fundraiser included North Carolina's National Committeeman Ed Broyhill, who was previously Trump's North Carolina Finance Committee chair in 2016, and Army veteran Scott Greenblatt, who runs a veterans claims consulting company.
After the fundraiser, Trump was scheduled to head over to the rally in Wilmington but it was canceled at the last minute due to inclement weather.
"There seems to be some thunder and lighting and it's a pretty big storm. So if you don't mind, we're going to have to just do a rain check," Trump told the crowd. "I'm so sad -- I'm in North Carolina right now and waiting to go in, but they say the weather is really getting bad. Really really getting bad. So we have to rely on the weather service."
The North Carolina fundraiser comes on the heels of Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper saying President Joe Biden can win the state despite Trump carrying the state both in 2016 and 2020. Both Biden and Harris campaigned in North Carolina last month, highlighting their health care messaging.
Broyhill, one of the co-hosts of the Trump fundraiser, however, told ABC News that North Carolina is a GOP stronghold, claiming Republicans success in down ballot seats.
"I don't know what people talk about when they say this is a purple state," Broyhill said. "There is no chance in hell that Joe Biden is going to come close to winning North Carolina."
"There are quite a large number of top donors that are flying in, and once they arrive, their expectations will far surpass 5 million," Broyhill said of the upcoming fundraiser.
