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Trump anticipating campaign fundraiser will top $50 million: ‘historic’ haul

Trump anticipating campaign fundraiser will top million: ‘historic’ haul

Former President Trump‘s campaign team is now predicting that Saturday evening’s fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, will rake in an estimated $50 million, smashing records for a Republican or Democratic candidate.   “It took three Democrat presidents to raise $25 million and one president to raise over $50 million, Donald J. Trump,” campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez boasted.  Saturday’s fundraiser is taking place at a private home in Palm Beach, hosted by billionaire and hedge fund founder John Paulson. Among the 100 or so guests will be heavy-hitters like casino mogul Steve Wynn, Bigelow Aerospace Founder and President Robert Bigelow, and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.  “The response to our fundraising efforts has been overwhelming, and we’ve raised over $43 million so far,” Paulson said in a statement. “There is massive support amongst a broad spectrum of donors.” Though the fundraiser is expected to take in tens of millions, Trump still needs to close the gap with his Democratic rival, incumbent President Biden, who is reported to have around $192 million on hand compared with just over $93 million for Trump.  Biden’s campaign said he raised more than $26 million during a fundraising appearance late last month at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.  ACLU THREATENS TO SUE GEORGIA OVER ELECTION BILL CONSERVATIVES PRAISE AS ‘COMMONSENSE’ REFORM The president’s re-election campaign called the money raised at the star-studded event — which set a record for a single fundraiser — “historic.” Trump’s event, billed as the “Inaugural Leadership Dinner,” sends a signal of a resurgence for the former president and Republican Party fundraising.  Trump initially struggled to attract big donors when he launched his campaign and some lined up to support the other Republicans who challenged him in the presidential primary. But as Trump racked up easy wins, leveled the field and became the party’s presumptive nominee, the GOP has solidified behind him. Contributions to the event will go toward the Trump 47 Committee, according to the invitation, a joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee, state Republican parties and Save America, a political action committee that pays the bulk of Trump’s legal bills.  In an unusual arrangement, the fundraising agreement directs donations to first pay the maximum allowed under law to his campaign and Save America before the RNC or state parties get a cut. Guests are asked to contribute $814,600 per person as a “chairman” contributor, which comes with seating at Trump’s table, or $250,000 per person as a “host committee” contributor.  Both options come with a photo opportunity and a personalized copy of Trump’s coffee table book featuring photographs from his administration, “Our Journey Together.” Three of Trump’s former rivals for the GOP nomination — South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — are expected to appear as “special guests.”

New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy faces flak for not returning to state following historic earthquake

New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy faces flak for not returning to state following historic earthquake

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy came under fire after he did not return to the Garden State following the historic earthquake on Friday that left residents rattled. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, N.J.-R, spoke with “FOX News Live” on Saturday after Murphy did not issue an on-camera address to residents, despite a few TV and phone interviews, including an interview Saturday with CBS. “We haven’t heard from the governor — and you know, on a lighter side, Arthel, there are those that say maybe it’s good he didn’t come, because every time he’s in New Jersey, he’s increasing taxes, tolls, fees and subsidizing illegals,” Van Drew told “FOX News Live” co-anchor Arthel Neville.  “But on a serious note, he wasn’t at a world summit for world peace. I mean he was at a Democratic convention — basically an association of democratic governors who were probably working on ways to make more democratic governors,” he said. 4.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE STRIKES NEW JERSEY, SHAKING BUILDINGS IN SURROUNDING STATES Van Drew said that residents were forced to look to New York leadership for guidance during the natural disaster — rather than their own governor. “So I think he could have taken maybe even 12 hours out to come back to New Jersey. Our folks in New Jersey really had to look to New York — to New York officials — and what they were saying,” Van Drew said. “Even though the actual earthquake was centered in Lebanon, New Jersey, in the northwestern part of the state.”  The Republican representative said Murphy could have easily traveled back to his state to assure residents that they were safe. “It would have been a nice symbol if he came back and said, ‘you know what, everything’s going to be OK. I want to personally review the infrastructure myself, see what the team has done, and then he could have gotten back to the convention, the association that he was at,” Van Drew said. FOX WEATHER SPEAKS TO NJ RESIDENTS FROM THE EARTHQUAKE’S EPICENTER “So I personally was a little disappointed that he didn’t make it. It’s just good for people to know that their leaders are there during times of problems,” he said. “And even though, in, you know, the world scheme of earthquakes, with what California sees or some other states — this was not huge — it was the biggest earthquake the state of New Jersey has had almost in a century and a half. I wish he had been there.” Fox News has reached out to Murphy’s office for comment. On Saturday, the governor wrote on X that the state’s emergency operations center was deactivated on Saturday morning. “Our State Emergency Operations Center has deactivated as of 10:00 a.m. today,” Murphy wrote. “We have had no reports of major damage to structures, roadways, or infrastructure as a result of yesterday’s earthquake.” The earthquake measured at least 4.8 magnitude and struck near Lebanon, New Jersey, at 10:23 a.m. on Friday, about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia, according to the USGS.  An estimate indicates the quake might have been felt by more than 42 million people in 14 states from Maine to North Carolina. More than two-dozen aftershocks have been felt since. More than 152,000 Americans reported feeling shaking to the USGS.

Greek, Jewish, Puerto Rican: Biden has history of claiming to be ‘honorary’ member of numerous ethnic groups

Greek, Jewish, Puerto Rican: Biden has history of claiming to be ‘honorary’ member of numerous ethnic groups

President Biden has a long history of attempting to tie himself to a variety of ethnic groups and cultures. Biden reminded guests at the White House for a Greek Independence Day celebration this week of his claim that he inherited the nickname “Biden-opoulos” in his home state of Delaware. Attributing his early political success to the Greek community, Biden said one of the things he “learned early on was that I had a very close relationship with the Greek American community — for real, in the heart and I mean real — and the church there as well.” Biden said he believed “every Greek American in Delaware voted for” him during his 1972 campaign for the Senate. “By the way, as some of the Delawareans would tell you, that’s where I acquired a nickname I’m very proud of: I am Joe ‘Biden-opoulos.’ That’s the nickname I got,” he said. It wasn’t the first time Biden mentioned his Greek-inspired nickname. During a 2009 White House event, then Vice President Biden said he was “an honorary Greek.” BIDEN RAISES MORE THAN $90 MILLION IN MARCH, OVER $187 MILLION IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2024 Biden’s remarks to Greek Americans gathered in the East Room of the White House are in line with his previous attempts to relate himself to ethnicities and communities from all across the world.  In September 2022, during a reception at the White House to celebrate the Jewish New Year, Biden told the group Jewish Americans at the Rosh Hashanah that he “went to shul” more than them. Shul is the Yiddish word for synagogue. “You all think I’m kidding. He can tell you I’m not. I’m not,” Biden said to laughter at the time, pointing at a rabbi from Wilmington, Delaware. “I’m a practicing Catholic, but I’d go to services on Saturday and on Sunday,” he added. Biden then reaffirmed that he was not kidding about the statement. Biden has also claimed during his presidency to have been raised by the Puerto Rican community. While discussing Hurricane Fiona response and recovery efforts from Puerto Rico in October 2022, Biden declared that he was “sort of raised in the Puerto Rican community at home, politically.” WASHINGTON POST REPORTER ADMITS BIDEN ‘STRETCHES THE AVAILABLE FACTS’ ABOUT HIS BACKGROUND, BUT LETS IT SLIDE At the time, Biden also claimed Delaware has “a very, in relative terms, large Puerto Rican population in Delaware — relative to our population.” Biden has also attempted to make headway with Black voters in America in recent years by claiming he came “out of a Black community.” “I come out of a Black community, in terms of my support,” Biden said during a presidential primary debate in November 2019. “If you notice, I have more people supporting me in the Black community that have announced for me because they know me, they know who I am.” While responding to the criticism over his remarks, Biden said a few months later, “I’m not saying, ‘I am Black.’ But I want to tell you something — I have spent my whole career with the Black community.” Some months later, in May 2020, Biden went on to claim that Black voters “ain’t black” if they have a hard time determining whether to support him or his political rival Donald Trump. He later walked back that comment, claiming he “shouldn’t have been such a wise guy” or “so cavalier.” But it doesn’t stop there. Biden, who was born in Philadelphia and moved to Delaware at the age of 10, has also attempted to connect with Italian and Polish communities by touting his Irish ancestry and Catholic religion. Biden said in 2020 that he “grew up in a heavily Irish Catholic community in Scranton, Pennsylvania,” as well as a “heavily Italian Polish community in Claymont, Delaware.” Biden’s connection to Ireland is something that he has mentioned often. “We Irish are the only people who are nostalgic for the future,” Biden said in 2021 ahead of a virtual meeting with Micheál Martin, who served at the time as Ireland’s taoiseach.

Biden campaign accuses Trump of hosting ‘scammers, racists and extremists’ at Palm Beach fundraiser

Biden campaign accuses Trump of hosting ‘scammers, racists and extremists’ at Palm Beach fundraiser

President Biden’s campaign has accused his Republican rival of courting unsavory groups for his upcoming fundraising dinner. Former President Donald Trump’s Saturday evening fundraising dinner — held in Palm Beach, Florida, at the home of billionaire John Paulson — is being co-chaired by business mogul Robert Bigelow, former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon, real estate developer Steve Wynn, Red Apple Group chairman John Catsimatidis and former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler. TRUMP AIMS TO SHATTER BIDEN’S FUNDRAISING RECORD WITH TOP-DOLLAR PALM BEACH GATHERING The guest list is expected to reach approximately 100 people with suggested ticket prices ranging from $250,000 to $814,600. Biden campaign senior spokesperson Sarafina Chitika made an incendiary remark about the event on Friday, accusing Trump of inviting “racists” and “extremists” to dinner. “If you want to know who Donald Trump will fight for in a second term, just look at who he is having over for dinner Saturday night – tax cheats, scammers, racists and extremists,” Chitika said in a statement to The Hill.  BIDEN RAISES MORE THAN $90 MILLION IN MARCH, OVER $187 MILLION IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2024 “Make no mistake, Donald Trump will do the bidding of his billionaire buddies instead of what is best for the American people,” she continued. “He’ll take their checks and cut their taxes, and leave hard-working Americans behind, shipping their jobs overseas, gutting Social Security and Medicare, ripping away health care protections, and banning abortion.” The Trump campaign predicts that it will haul in over $40 million at the Palm Beach fundraiser as they try to catch up a bit with Biden in the 2024 presidential cash dash. The Biden re-election campaign announced Saturday that it raised more than $187 million in the first quarter of 2024. In March, the campaign raked in over $90 million, up from $53 million the month before. His campaign announced it had $192 million in cash on hand, which it touted as “the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle.” In the first quarter, 96% of donations were under $200, with more than 1.1 million donors making over 1.9 million contributions, according to the campaign. The campaign said it now has more than 212,000 sustaining donors — more than double the amount at this point in the 2020 cycle — who have pledged more than $5.2 million in monthly contributions. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Fox News Digital’s Kyle Morris and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.