$1 Million Donation Grants Dinner Ticket with Trump
"If You Can't Sit at the Table, You're on the Menu"... Struggling to Meet
Companies that have criticized U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for the January 6 Capitol riot and other reasons have suddenly changed their stance and are rushing to donate ahead of Trump’s inauguration scheduled for January next year. Due to the wave of support from major companies, Trump’s second inauguration is expected to set a record for the largest fundraising amount in history.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 25th (local time) that many companies and associations that had previously criticized the January 6 Capitol riot and announced they would withhold support from those refusing to accept the 2020 election results are now lining up to fund Trump’s inauguration.
Ford, Intuit, Toyota, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) are each donating $1 million (approximately 1.4635 billion KRW). WSJ confirmed that more than 13 companies have donated over $1 million so far. Goldman Sachs, General Motors (GM), Bank of America (BoA), AT&T, Stanley Black & Decker, and others have also been listed as donors. Most of these companies did not disclose their reasons for donating. However, some stated that they have donated to presidential inaugurations for decades regardless of political party.
WSJ evaluated, "As corporate executives rush to respond to a new president with an agenda that will broadly impact the business environment, many of these commitments (to withdraw donations due to the Capitol riot) have become things of the past."
Accordingly, inauguration officials stated that the fundraising is expected to exceed $107 million (approximately 156.5 billion KRW), the record set during Trump’s first inauguration. This would be the highest inauguration fundraising amount ever. President Joe Biden raised $61 million (approximately 89.2 billion KRW) for his inauguration.
Donors who contribute $1 million or raise $2 million from others receive six tickets to attend welcome receptions with cabinet appointees, a "candlelight dinner" with President Trump and the First Lady, and social events such as the black-tie ball in the days leading up to the inauguration. Trump boasted in a post on Truth Social that "everyone wants to be my friend."
Trump’s aides view these corporate fundraising activities as a means to elicit repentance from companies that had previously shunned Trump. One aide expressed displeasure at seeing billionaire big tech executives visiting Mar-a-Lago and writing $1 million checks for the inauguration as if to make amends for past mistakes. WSJ assessed that the rush by companies to fund the inauguration "signals how much change companies have undergone ahead of Trump’s return to the White House."
Major consultants advise that donating to the inauguration and creating opportunities to meet with Trump benefits companies as well. Republican strategist Kevin Madden advised corporate clients to actively participate in policy discussions with Trump, citing the proverb, "If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu."
Some Republican strategists have urged companies to remove pro-Democrat phrases from their websites, especially emphasizing the deletion of statements about halting donations after the January 6 Capitol riot. Six companies, including Stanley Black & Decker, have removed such statements. These companies had only donated $25,000 to Trump’s first inauguration but announced they would donate $1 million this time.
Cryptocurrency trading platforms Kraken and Coinbase each donated $1 million. Trump has previously pledged to ease regulatory burdens on cryptocurrencies. Intuit, a tax software company whose stock plummeted after Tesla CEO Elon Musk, head of the Government Efficiency Department (DOGE), announced plans to distribute a free tax app, also donated $1 million. The pharmaceutical industry, including Pfizer and the industry group PhRMA, also appeared on the inauguration donation list.
Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos who had past conflicts with Trump, also donated $1 million. Bezos’s space company Blue Origin competes with Musk’s SpaceX.
Charter Communications donated $250,000 to Trump’s first inauguration and $350,000 to President Biden’s inauguration but has decided to donate $1 million this time. Uber, which donated $1 million to Biden’s inauguration, will donate a total of $2 million this time?$1 million from the company and $1 million from CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Additionally, OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin are also reported to have pledged $1 million each.
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