‘The Boss Wants This Money’: Trump Has Reportedly Been Demanding Companies and Donors Pay Up

AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File

President Donald Trump has taken an unusually hands-on role in raising money, personally directing multimillion-dollar fundraising efforts and pushing corporate leaders for increasingly large contributions, according to a report published Thursday by The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that Trump regularly calls top fundraiser Meredith O’Rourke, whom he’s dubbed the “princess of darkness,” from the White House to review who has donated and who has not. According to people familiar with the conversations, the president frequently tells O’Rourke to raise the size of her requests, with some donors being asked for as much as $50 million.

In soliciting contributions, O’Rourke has at times invoked Trump’s direct involvement, telling prospective donors, “This is very important to the president. He’s asked me to call you and ask you for this donation.” On other calls, according to the outlet, she has referred to Trump as “the boss,” saying, “the boss wants this money.”

The Journal found Trump has raised more than $800 million since returning to office, with money flowing to a wide range of ventures, including his planned presidential library, a new White House ballroom, political committees, and projects tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Among the donations cited were $50 million from SoftBank for Trump’s presidential library, roughly $25 million from Apple for the ballroom project, about $10 million from Microsoft, $5 million from Amazon, and an additional $10 million from Meta to a Trump-aligned political committee, on top of previous contributions.

The Journal also revealed that wealthy donors invited to exclusive dinners or White House events were sometimes met with additional fundraising appeals instead of thank-yous. One executive, according to the report, was asked for another $1 million contribution only days after attending a dinner honoring a previous multimillion-dollar gift.

Not to mention, multiple executives and board members told the Journal they believed multimillion-dollar donations translated into greater access and that if a company had an issue before the federal government that reached Trump’s attention, he would want to know how much the company had contributed. One chairman of a publicly traded company said that companies understood they were either “checked on a list, or crossed off a list” depending on whether they gave.

An outside spokeswoman for Trump and O’Rourke, Danielle Alvarez, told the Journal that Trump is the “most successful fundraiser in modern political history” and said the money would help “Republicans win big in the midterms, build an enduring political infrastructure and continue advancing innovative private-sector initiatives.” She added, “One thing has never changed. President Trump can’t be bought.”

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