Donald Trump Looks to Las Vegas Heavyweights for Reelection Funds
You would think that campaign money would not be an issue for a president at has a net worth in the billions. All indications point towards Donald Trump seeking reelection for a second term as the current US President.
Also, all indications point towards him relying on a few other billionaires for the money to get it done.In a recent post on Every1bets.com, a short list of Las Vegas heavyweights were identified as key contributors to his initial presidential campaign in 2016. This short list included Sheldon Adelson, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and Phil Ruffin. Beleaguered Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn was also on this report’s list.
Turning to real money casino owners in the gambling capital of the world for real money contributions seems like a no-brainer for a man that made a great deal of this fortune in this industry. This report estimates that this power group contributed tens of millions of dollars to Donald Trump’s first campaign for US President. His bid to retain his temporary home in Washington DC for another four years is not until 2020, but this same group is already opening-up their checkbooks to help fund his efforts.
Records of contributions for campaign funds are kept by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). According to the early records for 2018, the Fertitta brothers (Frank and Lorenzo) have each donated $1 million. They own the Station Casino in Las Vegas. Their money went to America First Action (AFA). This is described in this report as a ‘super political action committee devoted to President Trump’s 2020 reelection’. Along with contributions from their wives, the Fertitta’s have also contributed over $800,000 to the Republican National Committee (RNC).Steve Wynn contributed $500,000 to this same PAC. Officials representing AFA have already stated that the money will stay in this fund regardless of what happens with all current sexual misconduct allegations that have been leveled against the former CEO and owner of Wynn Resorts.
One of Donald Trump’s closest associates in Las Vegas over the years has been Phil Ruffin, who is the principle owner of Treasure Island. Ruffin also owns 50 percent of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. He is on record for donating $250,000 to the RNC last June. He also gave a total of $200,000 to two separate Super PACs supporting Trump’s reelection (Trump Victory and Donald J. Trump for President, Inc) as mentioned by Every1bets.com.
The one Las Vegas heavyweight waiting it out on the sidelines is Sheldon Adelson. He founded the Las Vegas Sands on his way to generating a net worth of close to $40 billion. While he has yet to contribute anything the President’s reelection campaign, he is on record as donating $25 million the week before the Nov. 8 election in 2016 to Future 45, which is another Super pac backing Trump.
When it comes to betting on the 2020 US Presidential election at Ladbrokes, the popular UK sportsbook still has Trump listed as the favorite to win at 7/4 odds. When he officially declared his initial candidacy for president in 2015, his odds to win were 100/1.
