MAGA Inc. and administration insiders will be out in force in Washington on President
A candlelight dinner fundraiser Saturday will offer big donors, including some K Street and business interests, opportunities to boost MAGA coffers ahead of the midterm elections. A separate Ultimate Fighting Championship event set for the White House lawn Sunday is the hottest ticket that some lobbyists say they can’t score.
Trump is set to headline a $1 million-a-person fundraising dinner at Trump National Golf Club Washington, DC in Virginia, according to an invitation viewed by Bloomberg Government. It’s for the pro-Trump outside group MAGA Inc., which had more than $350 million cash on hand as of April 30, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
The dinner invitation says the president would appear only as a featured speaker and was not asking for funds or donations.
“MAGA Inc is committed to retaining and building the GOP majorities in the House and Senate,” Alex Pfeiffer, MAGA Inc. spokesman, said in an email.
Team Trump
Meredith O’Rourke, a longtime Florida and GOP fundraiser who is a point-person for many of Trump’s projects, is a contact for the dinner, the invitation says. She didn’t respond to a request for comment.
O’Rourke has well-placed connections in some of the top K Street firms in Trump’s second term.
“She’s the most impressive fundraiser that I’ve worked with in 30 years,” Ballard said.
Miller Strategies, another fast-growing lobbying firm with ties to the Trump team and congressional Republicans, referred to O’Rourke as “our friend” in a LinkedIn post earlier this year.
“It’s been a privilege to witness Meredith’s drive, discipline, and commitment” to America, the firm’s post added.
Pfeiffer didn’t answer more detailed questions, including how much money the candlelight dinner being held on the eve of Trump’s 80th birthday is expected to raise. Trump has done similar events in the past, including a June 13, 2023, candlelight dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., according to news reports.
MAGA Ties
Some high-profile lobbying interests have given at least $1 million to MAGA Inc. this year, FEC reports show.
Lobbying by the firm has surged during Trump’s second administration, federal disclosures show, with A16Z shelling out $660,000 in the first quarter of the year and retaining Miller Strategies, BGR Group, Mehlman Consulting, and other firms.
A spokesperson for A16Z didn’t respond to a request for comment about whether anyone from the firm would attend the candlelight dinner. Miller Strategies’ founder, Jeff Miller, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
GOP lobbyists and political donors said MAGA Inc.'s war chest is an asset to the party, which is facing political headwinds as Republicans try to maintain House and Senate majorities in November.
“The President and his political team understand that the midterm elections will be challenging, but they have remained consistently committed to helping Republicans win across the board,” said lobbyist and donor Ozzie Palomo, a founding partner of Chartwell Strategy Group. “Fundraising efforts have remained strong, donor enthusiasm continues to be high, and they have built a significant war chest that is already beginning to be deployed.”
Palomo pointed to the combination of Trump-world fundraising, congressional GOP super PACs, and other outside groups, saying Republicans have “assembled a robust and well-funded political operation.”
Jon Golinger, democracy advocate at the corporate watch dog organization Public Citizen, said that when corporate and lobbying interests attend $1 million-a-person events like Saturday’s candlelight dinner, they “seek, and in some cases receive, favorable treatment.”
Tough Ticket
The separate UFC event planned for Sunday, Trump’s birthday, has been a difficult ticket for lobbyists to score, according to two lobbyists who have tried to get them.
A White House official said it is a UFC event and that the UFC is funding and paying for it.
The UFC didn’t respond to questions about procedures for attending it.
Jeffrey Kimbell, president of Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates, said he’s been striking out trying to get clients into the UFC event.
“I’ve been in Washington since 1993, have run a firm for 28 years, now with 25 employees and 90 clients, run a live music business on the side (Magnum Entertainment Group, Inc.) and have been to every GOP Convention since 1992 and I have never, ever seen a ticket this difficult to get for clients,” he said in an email.