Trump’s biggest donors refrain from giving to rival GOP candidates

Very few of Donald Trump’s top donors from his 2020 campaign have given to his rivals this cycle, a new analysis of Federal Election Commission filings by CNBC and NBC News shows.

At least three of the former president’s 2020 donors have donated to other GOP presidential candidates, a low number that could suggest that these business leaders are sticking with Trump, sitting out the 2024 race or still deciding if they’re going to send their money to Trump’s rivals.

Trump campaign fundraiser Caroline Wren told CNBC in a statement that having so few big-money defections means these donors all see the polls showing the former president well ahead of his rivals and believe he’s going to win the Republican primary fight.

“The donors are coming to the same conclusion as Republican voters — the primary is over and Donald Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee,” Wren said.

“It’s time for donors to coalesce around Donald Trump and invest in the ground game and infrastructure needed to win in the general election,” she added.

A New York Times poll released Monday shows Trump with 54% of the support of likely GOP primary voters, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a distant second with 17%. No other candidate eclipsed 3%. 

Shipping magnate Richard Uihlien and his wife Elizabeth each donated $1 million to the Never Back Down super PAC, which is backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bid to be the GOP nominee for the White House, new filings show. Uihlein and his wife gave over $3 million combined in 2020 toward the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action.

Warren Stephens, the CEO of Stephens Inc., contributed over $3 million combined to both America First Action and Preserve America, another super PAC that backed Trump in 2020. This year, Stephens contributed $1 million to America Strong and Free Action Inc., a super PAC backing former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Stephens also gave $50,000 this year to the Tell It Like It Is super PAC, which supports former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential bid, and $100,000 to Committed To America, a super PAC backing former Vice President Mike Pence’s run for president.

Ronald Cameron, a longtime Arkansas-based businessman who gave over $1 million in 2020 to super PACs supporting Trump, gave $500,000 to the same pro-Pence group.

Both Christie and Pence are among the candidates in the single digits within the recent New York Times poll. Hutchinson regularly polls behind both men.

Meanwhile, the Trump-allied super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. shows millions were raised from old allies of the former president including:

• $1 million from New York Jets owner and former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom under Trump, Woody Johnson
• $1 million from real estate veteran Charles Kusher, who is also Jared Kushner’s father and received a pardon from Trump before he left office
• $2 million from casino magnate Phill Ruffin
• $50,000 from Haim Chera, an executive at Vornado Reality and son to the late businessman Stanley Chera, who was a longtime friend of Trump’s before he died

Blackstone CEO and major Trump donor Steve Schwarzman did not give anything to super PACs backing other candidates for president, nor to Trump’s orbit. He said a year after the riot on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021 that he was ready to back a primary challenger to the former president.