News
Trump Has Reeled in More Than $200 Million Since Election Day
Since his victory in November, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s allies have raised well over $200 million for a constellation of groups that will fund his inauguration, his political operation and eventually his presidential library, according to four people involved in the fund-raising.
It is a staggering sum that underscores efforts by donors and corporate interests to curry favor with Mr. Trump ahead of a second presidential term after a number of business leaders denounced him following the violence by his supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Mr. Trump has promised to gut the “deep state” and made various promises to industry supporters. Among the pledged donors for the inaugural events are Pfizer, OpenAI, Amazon and Meta, along with cryptocurrency firms.
The total haul for the committee financing his inaugural festivities — at least $150 million raised, with more expected — will eclipse the record-setting $107 million raised for his 2017 inauguration, according to three people briefed on the matter who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to share internal financial information.
Other committees benefiting from the fund-raising blitz include a super PAC called Make America Great Again Inc. and its associated nonprofit group, which is expected to be used by Mr. Trump’s team to back his agenda and candidates who support it, while opposing dissenters.
Mr. Trump has boasted about the haul, telling people during the Christmas holiday season that he had raised more than $200 million since the election. Mr. Trump’s team has repeatedly noted how many people have wanted to find ways to donate to him since his election win.
The Trump transition and inaugural committee did not return emails seeking comment about the fund-raising haul.
David Tamasi, a lobbyist who has raised money for Mr. Trump, dismissed a suggestion that corporate interests were giving to avoid Mr. Trump’s wrath, though he acknowledged that some donors may be trying to atone for having previously maintained distance from the president-elect.
“It is a time-honored D.C. tradition that corporations are enthusiastically embracing this cycle in all manners, largely because they were on the sidelines during previous Trump cycles,” he said. “They no longer have to hedge their political bets.”
Inaugural committees can accept unlimited contributions from individuals and corporations, but not foreign nationals. Major corporations that try to avoid partisan politics have long donated to inaugural funds to signal a willingness to work with new administrations and support for the democratic transfer of power, regardless of the incoming president’s party.
But there is cross-pollination among top fund-raisers for Mr. Trump’s inauguration and his political efforts, including several partners at lobbying firms that represent major corporate interests. Raising money for the inauguration can help lobbyists secure access for clients, and cachet for themselves with the incoming administration.
Among the four finance chairs for Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee are the lobbyist Jeff Miller and Reince Priebus, a former chief of staff in the Trump White House who is not a lobbyist but is chairman of the board of advisers of the lobbying firm Michael Best Strategies. Their firms represent companies with much at stake in the forthcoming administration, some of which plan to donate to the inauguration.
Mr. Miller’s firm, Miller Strategies, represents Pfizer and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, each of which has pledged donations. Their executives met after the election at Mar-a-Lago with Mr. Trump and his choice for health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., amid concerns about how the drug industry might be affected by Mr. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic.
Since the election, Mr. Miller’s firm has registered to lobby for the ride-share tech company Uber, which has donated $1 million, as has, separately, its chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi. The firm also represents the tech company OpenAI, whose chief executive, Sam Altman, plans to give $1 million. Michael Best Strategies has represented the cryptocurrency firm Ripple for nearly four years. It has pledged $5 million in its own cryptocurrency, XRP — among the largest known donations to the inaugural committee.
After the election, Ripple retained the lobbyist Brian Ballard, a top Trump fund-raiser.
Another Ballard client, Robinhood, a leading cryptocurrency trading platform, has donated $2 million.
“We look forward to working with President Trump and the incoming administration to drive positive change in the markets, be an active voice for customers and pursue our mission to democratize finance for all,” Mary Elizabeth Taylor, Robinhood’s vice president of global government and external affairs, said in a statement.
Other companies associated with cryptocurrency are expected to be major contributors as well, reflecting optimism that Mr. Trump will deliver on his campaign trail promises to dial back federal scrutiny that figures in the industry say have stifled its growth.
Amazon, a Ballard client that found itself crosswise with the first Trump administration, said it planned to donate $1 million in cash.
Donations of at least $1 million grant access to the top package of perks related to several days of festivities in the run-up to the inauguration on Jan. 20, including what are touted as “intimate” dinners with Mr. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, though often with many attendees, as well as black-tie balls after the swearing-in.
Other entities, ranging from companies like Meta to previous Trump critics like the billionaire Ken Griffin, have made $1 million donations to the inaugural.
Contributions to inaugural committees, which are required to be publicly disclosed to the Federal Election Commission months after the inauguration, are one of the last major opportunities to financially support a second-term president.
Mr. Tamasi and Oswaldo Palomo, who are partners in the lobbying firm Chartwell Strategy Group, raised more than $3 million for the inaugural. Their firm represents companies that could be affected by Mr. Trump’s proposed tariffs, including the South Korean automaker Hyundai and a U.S. subsidiary of the South Korean conglomerate SK Group.
The deadline for donating to the inaugural to be eligible for the perks of the weekend is Jan. 10, according to documents distributed to potential donors.
If the inaugural committee’s fund-raising exceeds the amount budgeted for the festivities, the expectation among fund-raisers is that the excess would be transferred to the committee collecting money toward a presidential library for Mr. Trump after he leaves office, according to two people involved in the effort.
The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund Inc. was incorporated in Florida on Dec. 20, six days after it was revealed that ABC News had agreed to donate $15 million to Mr. Trump’s future presidential foundation and museum to settle a defamation claim he had brought against the network.
The fund was incorporated by a lawyer in Florida, Jacob Roth, who has previously created Trump groups, including the inaugural committee, according to state corporate records. The purpose of the entity, according to the Florida articles of incorporation, is “to preserve and steward the legacy of President Donald J. Trump and his presidency.”
Three San Francisco couples set out Monday for their annual road trip to Ashland, Ore., for the town’s famous Shakespeare festival. They drove separately and planned to meet at 6:30 p.m. on the terrace of their favorite Japanese restaurant there.
They had booked a table for six, but only four showed up for dinner.
Judith and Wylie Sheldon were found dead in their running car on the side of the road to Oregon, shocking their friends and family and leaving a hole in San Francisco’s arts and film world.
Ms. Sheldon, 84, was the daughter of William Wyler — who won three Oscars for best director — and chaired the board of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Mr. Sheldon, 86, was a prominent lawyer.
David Smith, who had befriended the couple more than 40 years ago, said in an interview that he and the others at the dinner table had grown nervous as time ticked on and their friends did not answer repeated calls to their cellphones. They learned they had not checked into their hotel either.
The friends eventually learned from one of the couple’s sons that the California Highway Patrol had found the couple at 5:46 p.m., both dead inside their running Jeep Compass. It was parked on the side of Interstate 5, north of Redding, Calif., more than 100 miles from their destination, the authorities said. Ms. Sheldon was driving, while Mr. Sheldon was in the passenger seat, according to the authorities.
The Redding area on Monday was under an extreme heat warning issued by the National Weather Service. Temperatures reached 109 degrees, according to the Weather Service.
Mr. Smith said he learned from the son that the couple had been found without any water or other liquids in the car. The fan was on high, but the air conditioning was not working, meaning they might have been blasted with hot air, Mr. Smith said. The windows were rolled down. The car had plenty of gas, and there were no signs of mechanical failure or foul play, Mr. Smith said the son told him.
“They didn’t crash. They stopped. They both just died there,” Mr. Smith said. “The entire thing is so bizarre. We’re still in a state of shock.”
The circumstances and cause of the couple’s death is under investigation but “appears to be medically related,” the Highway Patrol said in a statement.
Whether the heat contributed to the couple’s death “may be determined” by an autopsy, a spokesman for the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said, adding that one had not been scheduled yet and could take several weeks to complete.
“We’ll just have to see,” the spokesman, Tim Mapes, said.
The Sheldons met at Stanford University and had two sons. They lived in a large home in San Francisco’s upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood that had views of the bay from the front and a garden out back.
They hosted many parties there on behalf of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and sometimes let revelers pose for photos with Mr. Wyler’s Oscar statuettes. Ms. Sheldon fell in love with silent movies after first seeing those created by her father — before his better known blockbusters like “Ben-Hur” and “Roman Holiday” — only about 30 years ago, said Anita Monga, artistic director of the festival.
Stacey Wisnia, the festival’s executive director, said the couple was generous, delightful and unassuming.
Back in Ashland, Ore., Mr. Smith said the four remaining friends had distracted themselves from their grief by attending plays, including “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Come From Away.” They were able to give away their friends’ tickets.
Ms. Monga had last seen Ms. Sheldon just last month at the film festival, which was held at the newly remade Castro Theater.
“This is such a shock,” Ms. Monga said of the deaths. “Also because it’s still a mystery.”
Luigi Mangione appears for a pretrial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, June 17, 2026.
Angelina Katsanis/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Angelina Katsanis/AP
New York — In a dramatic reversal, Luigi Mangione’s legal team on Thursday backed away from a plan to use a psychiatric defense when his case goes to trial in state court in September. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murdering health insurance CEO Brian Thompson in 2024 on a Manhattan street.
At a hearing only a day earlier before state Judge Gregory Carro, Mangione’s attorneys confirmed that Mangione had been undergoing psychiatric evaluation. They signaled that his defense would be based at least in part on the argument that Mangione was experiencing “extreme emotional disturbance.”
But in a one-line letter sent to Carro on Thursday, Mangione’s team said that “at this time” they no longer intend to introduce psychiatric evidence during the trial. It’s unclear what sparked the shift. Mangione’s team didn’t respond to NPR’s request for comment.
Former Manhattan prosecutor and legal analyst Gary Galperin told NPR it was a “stunning reversal” for Mangione to withdraw from the psychiatric defense. “One can only speculate at this point as to the reasons,” he said.
“What remains, of course, at this point is the question of what defense they will pursue at trial,” he added.
This maneuver came after Carro ordered Mangione’s attorneys to quickly share psychiatric information with prosecutors.
“They need to know what the malady is that this defendant suffers and how that triggered extreme emotional distress,” he said, during Wednesday’s hearing. “I’m not going to let you surprise people on the eve of trial. Get it done.”
Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joel Seidemann repeatedly complained that Mangione’s team was “stonewalling” the prosecution by withholding medical information about his psychiatric state. “We have gotten nothing,” Seidemann said.
Mangione’s lead attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo denied her team was delaying the court process or improperly withholding information.
But legal analyst Richard Schoenstein says by withdrawing the psychiatric defense, Mangione’s team “is avoiding the court deadline to produce its psychiatric evidence.”
According to Schoenstein, this latest move “does not entirely foreclose” Mangione’s team from returning to some form of psychiatric argument during the trial, but he added that such a defense would now be far more difficult.
Mangione’s case has drawn worldwide attention. Legal experts say the 28-eight-year old has drawn an unusual level of public support because of his criticism of the health insurance industry. Thompson, a father of two, was CEO of UnitedHealthcare at the time of his murder.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Carro also indicated that a tranche of court documents would be made public that apparently relate to Mangione’s potential psychiatric defense. On Thursday, Carro reversed course.
In a signed order, he said that because Mangione will no longer present psychiatric evidence, “the court’s previous order sealing certain transcripts, emails, and documents, remains in effect.”
Mangione’s state trial is scheduled to begin in early September, with a federal trial expected to take place later.
The museums, designed by conservative nonprofits and Trump appointees, tell the story of early America, from colonization to revolution. The one exhibition looking beyond the early years is the “Wall of American Heroes.” It is a list of 51 people, chosen to illustrate 250 years of American history.
A White House spokesman said they were “individuals who shaped this nation’s history, culture and spirit across generations.”
The people pictured on this national honor roll — and the people left out — help illustrate what this administration sees as the highlights of American history.
Amid the administration’s efforts to reshape the nation’s relationship with its past, Trump appointees heavily weighted the list toward a single era of American history — and a few specific kinds of hero.
The other exhibitions in the Freedom Trucks were crafted by a pair of conservative nonprofits, PragerU and Hillsdale College. But the “Wall of American Heroes” was created by Freedom 250, a nonprofit effort whose leaders were chosen by President Trump and that was created to lead the planning of celebrations of the nation’s 250th birthday, overshadowing a bipartisan congressional commission.
A spokeswoman for Freedom 250 said Mr. Trump was not directly involved in the selection of those featured.
But the list clearly tracks Mr. Trump’s own lifetime and the heroes of the conservative political movement.
The wall’s tilt toward heroes of the baby boomer generation, for instance, extends beyond Hollywood stars and musicians. Of the four religious leaders on the list, two — Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the Rev. Billy Graham — also appeared on TV regularly in the 1950s and 1960s. The only painter on the list is Norman Rockwell, known for his idealized depictions of American life in that period.
By contrast, there is only a handful of figures from the first decades of American independence.
“That’s a disservice, if your intention is to present the last 250 years,” said Sarah Weicksel, the executive director of the American Historical Association. “Because all of the people on this list are building on the work and struggles and progress that was made by the people in the 150 years prior.”
The “Wall of American Heroes” was inspired by a similar display in a traveling museum created by the State of Virginia. But Virginia’s display celebrates little-known historical figures.
Mr. Trump’s, by and large, celebrates people who are already well-known — and, often, people who were famous in their own time. For example, it praises P.T. Barnum, a circus impresario who used hoaxes and freak shows to draw crowds. The wall calls him an “icon of American sensationalism.”
The spokeswoman for Freedom 250 said that many of the names on the wall were drawn from a list of 250 people that Mr. Trump wants to include in a “Garden of American Heroes” in Washington.
The spokeswoman declined to say what criteria were used to narrow down the list.
The only president whose name appears on the wall — not on the list of heroes, but alongside his quotation — is Mr. Trump himself.
Explore the Wall of Heroes
Navigate the display by dragging from side to side.
-
Florida2 minutes agoEx-Florida juvenile probation officer accused of leaking court info to drug traffickers
-
Georgia5 minutes agoGeorgia National Fair announces ticket pricing changes for 2026
-
Hawaii10 minutes agoHawaii economy remains resilient despite inflation – The Garden Island
-
Idaho17 minutes agoIdaho Targets Japanese Beetle in Caldwell to Protect Agriculture
-
Illinois20 minutes agoPedestrian fatally struck by Metra train in Palatine, Illinois
-
Indiana25 minutes agoMan dies after near east side apartment shooting
-
Iowa32 minutes agoIowa man injured in 3-vehicle crash on I-35 near Albert Lea
-
Kentucky35 minutes agoDemetrus Liggins disputes Fayette County board’s claim he resigned, attorneys allege misconduct
