Donald Trump is reportedly attending $5 million-per-head meetings with executives and $1 million-per-seat candlelight dinners at his Mar-a-Lago club and estate.
“It’s everyone else who missed the boat,” a Trumpworld insider told WIRED after it reported on the latest candlelight dinner, which took place on Saturday.
Both the Trump campaign and, later, its record-breaking inaugural committee received millions in donations from business leaders and the tech sector. Some are reportedly hoping to catch up with figures like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg and secure their own audiences with the new president.
An invitation to the Saturday event, obtained by the magazine, told attendees, “You are invited to a candlelight dinner featuring special guest President Donald J. Trump,” noting “space is very limited. $1,000,000 per person.”
The invitation featured a header with the words “MAGA Inc.,” a reference to the Trump-aligned political action committee that spent over $456 million in 2024 supporting the Republican’s election bid.
“Donald J. Trump is appearing at this event only as a featured speaker, and is not asking for funds or donations,” added the invitation to the event, which was featured on Trump’s official schedule.
Candlelight dinners featuring Trump have taken place in January and December in locations ranging from Mar-a-Lago to Washington, though Saturday’s event appears to be the first since Trump took office.
GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson was among the attendees at the recent dinner, Axios reports.
The $5 million one-on-one meetings with the president have become a “hot ticket” among business leaders, a source familiar with them told the outlet.
The fundraiser was part of MAGA Inc.’s larger plans to raise a potential $500 million war chest by this summer to back the Trump agenda and MAGA-friendly candidates, according to the outlet.
The Independent has contacted the White House and the publicly listed treasurer of MAGA Inc. for comment.
An all-out fundraising push featuring a termed-out president is unusual, but that’s not the only conflict of interest question over the White House.
Administration adviser and Department of Government Efficiency mastermind Elon Musk is leading an unprecedented campaign to reroute and cut federal spending, at the same time as he does billions of dollars with the federal government.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also recently dropped a civil fraud case against Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur who has invested millions in Trump’s World Liberty Financial venture.
