ICYMI: Bloomberg, “Trump’s Fundraising Shows Reliance on Oil Sector, Wealthy Donors”

Trump’s presidency was a boon for Big Oil – and now they’re lining up to fund his campaign and legal bills

Washington, D.C. – Bloomberg reporting shows a significant portion of Donald Trump’s fundraising came from Big Oil donors. When Donald Trump was in office, oil and gas giants received a $25 billion tax break and he promised his oil industry donors he’d slash their taxes if re-elected at a fundraiser co-hosted by oil tycoon Harold Hamm. Big Oil is desperate to help Trump and his MAGA allies in Congress so they can continue profiteering and polluting. 

Bloomberg: Trump’s Fundraising Shows Reliance on Oil Sector, Wealthy Donors

Donald Trump relied on a small cadre of donors to contribute a hefty portion of his March fundraising haul, showing the early success of his pivot to wealthy benefactors to finance his presidential bid.

The $23.6 million from deep-pocketed donors accounted for a substantial part of the $65.6 million he and the Republican Party raised that month, the latest disclosures to the US Federal Election Commission show. While overall figures were known earlier, the filings released Monday were the first to detail donors and other information…

Trump, whose criminal trial started Monday for falsifying business records related to hush money payments made in the 2016 election, is also raising money for Save America — the leadership PAC that’s been paying his legal fees. He’s been increasingly relying on the rich and the elite as his rallies fail to whip up enough small-dollar donations to fund his campaign…

Trump’s first big haul of the election cycle came in late March after he secured the GOP nomination and could start accepting checks of up to $824,600 per donor. The money, raised by Trump 47 Committee, is divided among his campaign, Save America, the leadership PAC that pays his legal bills, the RNC and state parties. His campaign got $178,000 in March, while the RNC got $10.4 million.

Billionaire John Paulson, former Renaissance Technologies co-president and co-CEO, Robert Mercer, as well as Harold Hamm of Continental Resources and Scott Bessent of Key Square Capital Management were among the donors writing big checks to the Trump 47 Committee, which the GOP nominee took over in mid-March. There were 73 donors in all, with some giving $1,000 or less…

The super PAC linked to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell raised $27 million and ended the first quarter with $60 million cash on hand. Citadel’s Ken Griffin gave it $7.5 million, while energy industry companies and executives gave millions more. Occidental Petroleum Corp. gave $2 million, Chevron Corp. and Trevor Rees-Jones, the billionaire owner of Chief Oil & Gas LLC each gave $1 million, and the American Petroleum Institute gave $1.5 million. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz gave $250,000.