WASHINGTON — President Trump raised twice as much money for his inauguration festivities as any previous president-elect in history, pulling in tens of millions of dollars from wealthy donors and large corporations eager to woo the nation’s new chief executive in the days after his unexpected victory.
Disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday showed the contributions from corporate executives, lobbyists and businesses, as well as small donors, totaled $107 million. The previous record was held by President Barack Obama, who raised $53 million for his 2009 inauguration.
Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee is not required to report how it spent the money on his inauguration festivities, which included more than 20 events and drew modest crowds in January. In a statement on Tuesday, the committee said it was still identifying charities toward which it would direct leftover money, although it did not detail how much was left.
The disclosures were delivered to the commission by hand on Tuesday and had not yet been made public online.
Vested Donors Gave Millions To Inaugural
The stream of money is a striking contrast to the way Mr. Trump funded his campaign, chiefly with small donations and his own fortune. While some big checks for the inauguration came from longtime Trump friends and associates, much of the money came from the industries that have traditionally excelled at wielding Washington influence: telecommunications, tobacco and pharmaceutical giants, which have bankrolled presidential inaugurations for Republicans and Democrats alike. And a generous amount came from people who had been hostile to his candidacy.
If the crowds at Mr. Trump’s swearing-in celebrations were relatively small, the checks paying for all the nonofficial festivities were not: Freed of many of the voluntary restrictions adopted by Mr. Trump’s predecessors, 48 people or corporations gave $1 million or more, according to the disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission. Besides Mr. Adelson, they included a trust controlled by the coal industry billionaire Joseph W. Craft III; the parent company of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company; and Robert Mercer, the billionaire investor and close ally of Stephen K. Bannon, a White House adviser.
N.F.L. Owners And Retirees Among Donors To Inauguration
WASHINGTON — Blue-chip American companies, kings of “dark money,” titans of professional football and even a Florida retirement community.
They all contributed to Donald J. Trump’s inauguration. Together, the donor rolls for the president’s inaugural committee, which announced this week that it had raised a staggering $107 million, take up 510 pages.
Million-dollar checks came in from nearly 50 people or corporations, many of whom have interests at stake in Washington or ties to the government. Smaller checks came in from all corners of the country and nearly every large industry — not to mention from some of President Trump’s closest friends.
You can examine the documents yourself. But we scoured them for you and found some of the more interesting donors.
