Why President Trump is holding fund raisers so soon
As you may have heard, President Trump is starting to hold big money fund raisers, the first being in his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. last week. It raised about $10 million at $35,000 per plate! These people are looking for a positive ROI, as you don’t pay $70,000 for a husband and wife to have dinner without expectations. You can read the story here and here.
Before we get to President Trump here are the general reasons for political fundraisers –
1. For obvious reasons, the candidates need lots of other peoples money, and want to be (or stay) very well known.
2. President Trump can make speeches to the public, all of which will be widely reported at no cost. For everyone else it’s paid advertisements, so fund raising is essential or be doomed to become a “consultant” to the companies you did billion dollar favors for.
3. If in the same party as the president, and the candidate nominally supports the president, it may increase donations, especially fund raisers. Candidates may even get plugged by the president, irregardless of if that candidate actually agrees with the president’s policies. Ted Cruz is a good example. As you know, Cruz has been busy licking our president’s boots.
Finally, you may have noticed that few people really challenge a president’s reelection as they are almost impossible to dislodge, but they come out of the woodwork to keep in the candidate limelight for other lucrative opportunities always asking for money. The politicians know why other politicians do this, although the public can’t be bothered to think through the fake candidates who beg for money.
If President Trump’s instance, the man who initially claimed to be 100% self funded and then had a “donate” button on his website, he is driven by money. The more the better. So raising huge amounts of money is good for his ego. Plus anyone at a fundraiser giving tens of thousands of dollars are going to say really nice things to him at that event. It’s just business 101.
The Trump fundraisers began over three years before the election and probably will never stop after his election! Incumbent presidents have all the advantages in a reelection campaign. As the FEC only allows a maximum donation of $2,700 per person, the dodge is to charge $35,000 for a chicken dinner worth $10 and the campaign pockets the balance. It’s all legal, but a dodge. What a surprise.
The question I have about fund raisers, is why so soon? Here’s what I think that the real answer is –
Mr. Trump may or may not be reelected in 2020, or may quit before and not even run. But as candidates are allowed to keep campaign donations forever in their committee bank accounts, I suspect that he’ll use campaign related donated money to secure favors for the indefinite future using this donated money. It will all be to further his personal interests. His personal interests come first.
Plus Trump likes making money; it’s his success metric.
For example, let’s say he raises $100 million between now and 2019 when the presidential election cycle begins. If he “only” spends $50 million during the campaign, since he gets unlimited press coverage and ignoring lots of money being donated in the final year, he’ll have $50 million left over.
Do you realize how much political influence that $50 million will buy? So even if not reelected, he’ll continue to push his agenda of eliminating the death tax (he is seventy years old, after all) if it isn’t eliminated while he is in office.
He’ll also focus on minimizing corporate taxes that will be a tremendous benefit to his companies… and other corporations, in that order.
You have to remember he is a businessman, and has always been one. A leopard doesn’t change its spots.
