By Illinois Review
On Saturday, President Donald Trump hosted a private event at his Palm Beach estate Mar-a-Lago with top Republican donors for the Republican National Committee’s Spring Retreat – as officials announced raising a staggering $76 million last month as Trump – who leads in virtually every national poll and in key swing states – takes on President Joe Biden in an election rematch this November.
In a statement released by Trump campaign senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita on Saturday just prior to the donor retreat, the two shared,
“President Donald J. Trump is not only winning across every battleground state, but we are raising the resources necessary to deliver a victory in November. With half of funds raised coming from small dollar donors, it is clear that our base is energized. The Republican Party is united, and voters nationwide are ready to FIRE Joe Biden and elect President Donald J. Trump.”
Ever since Trump secured the 2024 GOP nomination – both the RNC and his campaign have brought in huge amounts of money. And earlier last month, he raised a record $50.5 million in a single evening during a private fundraiser hosted by billionaire John Paulson at his Palm Beach mansion just down the road from Mar-a-Lago.
In late March, Biden raised $25 million during a New York City fundraiser that featured former President’s Bill Clinton and Barack Obama – but the event was overshadowed by the death of NYPD police officer Jonathan Diller, who was shot and killed in the line of duty. And while Biden and top Democratic officials attended a glitzy Manhattan fundraiser, Trump was down the street consoling Diller’s family at the wake.
During his remarks at an afternoon gathering, President Trump dazzled the party’s top donors and attacked allies of Biden who are abusing their power and weaponizing their offices to target a political enemy – forcing Trump to shuffle between court rooms instead of giving speeches and meeting with voters on the campaign trail as we face the most important election in our nation’s 248-year history.
Guests at the retreat included the country’s top Republican political leaders – including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who’s third in line to the presidency. And during his speech, President Trump invited several leaders to the stage and introduced each of them individually. Joining him alongside Johnson were U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, JD Vance and Doug Burgum; U.S. Representatives Jim Banks, Byron Donalds, Wesley Hunt, Elsie Stefanik and Michael Waltz; candidates Dave McCormick and Bernie Moreno; former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, RNC chairman Michael Whatley and RNC co-chairwoman Lara Trump.
The lineup on stage also included a surprise guest – former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich – who Trump invited to the stage last minute. The former governor has been busy raising money for the Trump campaign. On February 18, 2020, President Trump commuted Blagojevich’s prison sentence after having served 8 years of a 14-year sentence for routine political dealmaking. The former governor never took a dime – and no one even alleges he took any money – he was simply exploring political deals as he weighed making an appointment to fill Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat after he was elected president. The former governor was targeted by the same political enemies going after Trump, including former FBI Director Robert Mueller and James Comey’s best friend Patrick Fitzgerald.
In a post on X, Blagojevich wrote, “It’s time for Democrats and Republicans to come together to save our democracy. Reject the politics of prosecution, persecution, and personal destruction. Democrats for Trump! #DemocratsForTrump #Trumpocrats”
On Friday, Fox News reported that Trump would be meeting with potential Vice Presidential candidates over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago during the donor retreat – and when the Trump campaign posted a photo of everyone on stage with Trump, including Blagojevich, Benny Johnson shared the picture with the caption, “Is Donald Trump’s VP pick on this stage?” A few hours later, Trump shared a screenshot of the post and shared it on his personal Truth Social account – sending the media and political commentators into a frenzy.
President Trump and his campaign remain tight-lipped about who’s on and who’s not on the short list to be his running mate as the mainstream media continues to speculate.
