The first spring donor withdrawal after a political party defeat is usually a moment of reflection and renewal as officials move in a new direction.
But with former President Donald J. Trump determined to hold on to the Republican Party and the party’s grassroots as always, the South Florida Republican National Committee’s top donors gathering this weekend is less of a backward moment and more of a moment Reminder of the ongoing tensions and divisions that haunt the GOP
The same former president who sent the RNC a warning letter last month demanding that it no longer use his resemblance to raise funds will headline the party’s fundraiser on Saturday night.
“An enormous complication” was how Fred Zeidman, a seasoned Republican fundraiser in Texas, described Mr. Trump’s continued presence in the political scene.
The delicate dance between Mr. Trump and the party – after losing the House, Senate and White House on his watch – showed in actual shuttle bus diplomacy on Saturday when the party’s top donors attended one The Four Seasons Resort attended a series of receptions and panels before heading to Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s private club, to hear Mr. Trump speak.
The former president’s insistence on the party’s leadership “affects every member,” said Zeidman, lawmaker and future-elected officials jockey for a Trump endorsement that was as powerful in a Republican primary as it could be problematic in a general election.
“He has already shown that he wants to have a big say in or control of the party, and he has already shown every sign that he will turn those who did not support him into elementary school,” Zeidman said. “He complicates everything so much.”
About 15 minutes into his Saturday night speech, after putting aside his prepared remarks, Mr Trump reverted to his false claims that his election had been stolen. He was referring to “Zuckerberg” and $ 500 million spent on a “locker” which, he said, marked each vote according to remarks described by a participant. “Biden. Saintly Joe Biden, “he said, adding,” It was a rigged choice. “
Mr Trump praised loyalists like Representative Jim Jordan from Ohio and Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff, while whipping his enemies – including Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker; former First Lady Michelle Obama; and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, whom he again accused of failing to undo Mr. Biden’s victory in the state.
He saved much of his vitriol for Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, and called him “a stiff” and a “freezing loser,” according to the participant. A “real leader,” he said, would never have accepted the results of this election.
Republicans, Mr. Trump said, according to the participant, “have to get tougher, they have to get meaner, they have to get better people.”
Among other things, Mr. Trump is considering running again in 2024. Although few of his allies believe he will get through, his presence could scare other potential candidates.
“The party is still very much turned around,” said Andrea Catsimatidis, chairwoman of the Manhattan Republican Party and donor who will be at the retreat. “He was the one who really revived the party when we didn’t win.”
Inevitably, too, is the fact that Mr. Trump has quickly built a political war chest that rivals that of the RNC. An adviser to Mr Trump said he currently has about $ 85 million available, compared to nearly $ 84 million for the RNC
“Send your donation to Save America PAC,” Trump urged supporters last month, not to “RINOS,” the derisive acronym for “Republicans on behalf only”. Mr Trump was just as passionate about punishing Republicans who crossed him, especially those who supported his second impeachment, as he was about the repossession of the House and Senate in 2022.
For party officials, the goal is to keep the energy that led Mr. Trump to success in the Republican tent while the former president does not fully allow it to dominate it. Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chairperson who endorsed Mr. Trump for a second term, has vowed to remain neutral in a potential elementary school for 2024 should Mr. Trump run again.
“It’s a difficult balancing act,” said Bill Palatucci, a Republican national commissioner from New Jersey who was critical of Mr. Trump.
“The president certainly has supporters,” said Palatucci, “but he has also more than offended many people with his behavior since the November elections, which culminated in his help in sparking the January 6 uprising.”
Some donors are hoping to get past Mr. Trump quickly, but they are also focusing on the current resident of the Oval Office.
“It’s very important that the Republican Party take Donald Trump as far back in time as possible,” said William Oberndorf, a California investor who gave millions to GOP candidates but said he would now only give Republican lawmakers who voted to indict mr. Trump card.
“However, unless Joe Biden ensures that key laws are supported by both parties, he will have more responsibility than any group of Republican donors ever to resurrect the political future and destiny of Mr Trump,” he added.
Among the donors, the battle for favor and funding goes beyond Mr. Trump and the RNC
A separate but overlapping meeting for Republican contributors was held on Thursday and Friday at Mr. Trump’s private club: an “investor meeting” of the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), a nonprofit organization. Mark Meadows, who served as Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, is now a senior advisor to the group, and Caroline Wren, who used to raise funds for the former president, is raising funds for it.
Donors are being recruited for a dizzying array of Trump-related projects, including Mr Pence’s group and new businesses started by Ben Carson, former housing secretary of Mr Trump. Stephen Miller, his former White House adviser; and Russell Vought, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trump’s first campaign manager in 2016, is also said to be involved in efforts to launch a Trump-focused super PAC.
Mr Trump, who continues to speak privately about a future campaign of his own in 2024, spoke for more than an hour Thursday with donors from the Meadows-affiliated group, also in his private club.
“All Republican roads lead to Mar-a-Lago,” said Jason Miller, an adviser to Mr. Trump. “Trump is still the straw that moves the news cycle. His influence will be central to every speech and action this week. “
Those who have traveled there to meet Mr. Trump in the past few months include Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former press secretary and candidate for governor of Arkansas; Senator Rick Scott of Florida, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee; and Representative Kevin McCarthy, California Republican and minority leader of the House.
In a suit and a red Make America Great Again hat, Mr. Trump came to his club this weekend for a fundraiser for Ms. Sanders.
The RNC had originally planned that its entire retreat should take place near Palm Beach, but organizers moved the final events to Mr. Trump’s resort on Saturday night, meaning the party will once again be able to use the former president’s private club his room will pay.
During Mr. Trump’s tenure at the White House, his political campaign, the RNC and his allies spent millions of dollars on Trump businesses, including his Washington hotel near the White House and a resort in Miami that has another one another pro-Trump group held a conference this week.
Party officials claimed donors and a number of party activists are happier to be in Trump-branded houses than anywhere else.
Still, the Trump branding of official Republican events had alienated the former Republican establishment.
“This is all about the Trump Circle of the Grift,” said former Virginia Representative Barbara Comstock, who is close to another high-profile Republican – and a frequent target of Mr. Trump – who was also particularly absent: Representative Liz Cheney from Wyoming.
Ms. Comstock said the distance Republicans are wise to “form their own coalitions” and “not get drawn into Trumpism, which has limited and short-term appeal as demographics in this country are dying”.
Henry Barbour, an influential Mississippi RNC member, said the party has been in a transition phase since the loss of Mr. Trump.
“If you lose the White House it’s going to take a bit of healing, and I think the first quarter has hopefully put us on a better path,” said Barbour. Mr Trump, he said, was “a great force in the party, but the party is bigger than any candidate, including Donald Trump”.
With Mr Trump’s priorities differing from those of other party leaders, the tension remains palpable. Friday is the Super PAC for Senate Republicans voted with mr. McConnell announced his support for Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who enraged Mr. Trump by voting to indict him. (Some Trump 2020 advisors work for Kelly Tshibaka, Ms. Murkowski’s Republican challenger.)
Last month, Mr. McConnell privately bragged about the Super-PAC’s fundraiser in a meeting with Senate Republicans, boasting that he had raised more money than Mr. Trump’s Super-PAC in 2020. He even handed out a card to order to clarify the point: In three cycles: almost 1 billion US dollars, ”says the card. Among them were Mr. Trump’s Super PAC stats: “Trump: $ 148 + Million” based on America First group.
But the Republican small donor base is still very much in love with Mr. Trump.
“He will still be the most important figure in the party in November 2022,” predicted Al Cardenas, former chairman of the Florida Republican Party and former chairman of the American Conservative Union. “Everyone has a shelf life and Donald Trump has lost a bit of his shelf life.”
“It could be two years,” added Cardenas. “It could be 10.”
