More: Business leaders can secure a one-on-one meeting with the president at Mar-a-Lago for $5 million, according to sources with direct knowledge of the meetings. At a so-called candlelight dinner held as recently as this past Saturday, prospective Mar-a-Lago guests were asked to spend $1 million to reserve a seat, according to an invitation obtained by WIRED.
"You are invited to a candlelight dinner featuring special guest President Donald J. Trump," the invitation reads, under a "MAGA INC." header. MAGA Inc., or Make America Great Again Inc., is a super PAC that supported Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. "Additional details provided upon RSVP. RSVPs will be accommodated on a first come, first serve basis. Space is very limited. $1,000,000 per person."
Invitees were asked to RSVP to Meredith O'Rourke, who served as national finance director and senior adviser at Donald J. Trump for President 2024, a campaign committee, and who is the owner of The O'Rourke Group, which O'Rourke describes on her LinkedIn page as a "Republican political fundraiser." Invitees were also directed to email Abby Mathis, the finance coordinator at MAGA Inc. Mathis was previously a staff assistant for Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama"a former Auburn University football coach"and also served as an intern at the White House office of the staff secretary, according to LegiStorm, a research organization that posts information on politicians and their staffers.
"I can't recall a sitting president in the first weeks of his administration asking for millions of dollars in fundraising," says Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. "The concern is less about fundraising and more about access and influence ... People hoping to get favorable treatment view it in their interest to donate money to Trump."
"Part of what is worrying," Moynihan adds, "is the lack of ethical guardrails in the current Trump administration, where there doesn't seem to be a clear line between Trump's businesses and the presidency."
