At the Republican National Committee’s spring gathering in Florida, former president Donald Trump mingled with vice presidential candidates and rich contributors, leaving a New York courtroom behind.
Attempting to catch up to the Biden campaign’s ever-growing war chest, Trump courted his deep-pocketed supporters during a fundraiser luncheon hosted at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday, with the former president serving as the main attraction.
According to sources familiar with the weekend agenda, prominent GOP figures and prominent donors converged at the Four Seasons on Friday for a welcome reception. Guests included Trump’s daughter-in-law and RNC co-chair Lara Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik.
This year’s VIP visitors included a number of Republicans on Trump’s vice presidential shortlist, while the yearly weekend retreat usually attracts the GOP elite. A person familiar with the matter informed HEADLINESFOREVER that the former president complimented a few of them during Saturday’s luncheon. Byron Donalds, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, and Senator JD Vance of Ohio were among the many invited guests onstage by Trump.
Trump called Rubio a “amazing talent” and lauded Stefanik for his work.
Congressmen Jim Banks of Indiana and Wesley Hunt of Texas were among the other famous visitors, along with Senate candidates Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Bernie Moreno of Ohio, as well as Senators Rick Scott of Florida and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
Additionally in attendance was South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who has occupied the past week trying to mend fences over a newly published extract from her forthcoming book, in which she recounted the story of how she shot and murdered her dog, Cricket.
Despite starting the vetting process, Trump’s senior aides tell HEADLINESFOREVER that the president is not planning to announce his running mate anytime soon and that his vice presidential shortlist is lengthy and subject to change. He intends to announce his official choice in the days leading up to July’s Republican National Convention.
This decision will be made, I believe, closer to Wisconsin time,” Trump told a Wisconsin Fox affiliate on Wednesday. “Right now, it’s quite early.”
Trump has the Miami Grand Prix scheduled for Sunday.
Trials and the campaign trail
At the retreat on Saturday, Trump campaign advisers informed contributors that the campaign and affiliated groups had raised $76.2 million in April, according to two attendees who spoke with HEADLINESFOREVER.
During a presentation to contributors, Trump’s campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, along with Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio, outlined the fundraising totals and laid out a plan for Trump’s electoral path. This plan implied that Trump could challenge Democrats in two states, Minnesota and Virginia, which have favored Democrats in the past.
The notion was dismissed by the Biden campaign. According to Biden campaign spokesman Lauren Hitt, “Trump doesn’t have a campaign operation in a single battleground state.” This information was provided to HEADLINESFOREVER by Hitt.
The advisers to Trump’s campaign also highlighted two forthcoming trips on his calendar: one to Ohio and Kentucky on May 15 and another to Texas on May 22. Both of these events will be held on Wednesdays, the one day of the week when the former president is not obligated to appear in a New York courtroom for his criminal hush money trial.
Several senators, including Rubio, Tim Scott, and Blackburn, among others, gave speeches to the over 200 people who gathered at the Four Seasons on Friday. Among the top Trump supporters who spoke were Johnson, Stefanik, RNC chairman Michael Whatley, and Lara Trump.
Among the topics covered in the presentations were the most recent internal polling, the Trump campaign’s plan to increase the electorate among Black and Hispanic voters, and tactics for messaging on abortion, which they saw as a major weakness in the run-up to November.
An participant who was directly informed about the remarks said that one of the speakers privately acknowledged that the hush money trial “is bleeding money,” alluding to the millions of dollars that have been taken out of the Trump campaign to pay for the former president’s legal fees.
A link between Johnson and Trump is flaunted.
In the days leading up to a pivotal vote to remove him from his position as speaker, Johnson will use his presence at the retreat to highlight his bond with Trump.
Democrats have stated they will vote to kill the initiative and keep Johnson in his position, but Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Wednesday that she intends to call for a vote to remove Johnson when lawmakers return to the Capitol next week.
Two people familiar with the matter said that Trump, who has not yet commented publicly on the intraparty fighting, has expressed his frustration with the drama, telling his advisors and inner circle that it is detracting from the party’s reputation just when he needs the full support of the Republican Party.
Sources close to Whatley’s remarks stated that Trump quietly irritated him this week by asking the newly elected RNC chairman, Mike Whatley, to go to Capitol Hill and tell the House Republican conference that he does not want a divided party.
One of the sources stated that Whatley, who was acting as Trump’s emissary, met separately with Greene and quietly told her to stop the drama.
When Johnson was under pressure for his work, he would often draw on his friendship with Trump to express solidarity. Earlier this month, Trump traveled to Mar-a-Lago for a press conference that his staff had organized. He spoke highly of Johnson and admitted that he was having a tough time in Congress.
The speaker and I are getting along famously, and so am I with Marjorie. Despite the difficulty of the procedure, we now have a speaker. This is a very difficult circumstance for any speaker, in my opinion,” Trump told reporters back then.