Donald Trump, angry at the size and energy of Kamala Harris’s huge crowds, crowded into a private, expensive fundraiser in Aspen, Colorado, on Saturday night with donors, struggling to keep up with his rival’s record-breaking donations.
The small event in Aspen, which required couples to fork over $500,000 to serve on the host committee, was in stark contrast to the packed crowds seen at Harris rallies in the key swing states that will decide the outcome of the 2024 election.
The high-profile fundraiser, attended by around 100 guests, took place at the home of John Phelan, owner of Rugger Management, a private investment firm based in Palm Beach, Florida, and his wife Amy Phelan.
A donor who attended the fundraiser on Saturday night told the Daily Beast that the former president seemed “anything but unsettled” and “not angry at all.” Just days earlier, however, Trump appeared visibly shaken, his words aimless, as he stood before invited reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. The rosy description also contradicted a New York Times One report describes a bitter Trump who describes himself as “angry,” and an Axios article portrays Trump as being almost beside himself with rage.
In fact, at the Aspen fundraiser, the source described Trump as “fun” and “disciplined.” Perhaps because he wasn’t sitting with his guests on Saturday, unlike at the posh fundraiser in the Hamptons last week, where Trump lingered over dinner in impromptu conversations with donors while railing against Democrats and the media.
Instead, Trump posed with donors in a photo line that moved fairly quickly, allowing the former president and his entourage to leave Aspen before the airport’s curfew, which prohibits planes from taking off after 10:30 p.m. local time.
Another guest, who owns property in the luxury Rocky Mountain resort and made the minimum $25,000 donation to attend, complained that Trump didn’t say anything noteworthy in his brief campaign speech. “It was boring,” the GOP donor told one of his children, who relayed the conversation to The Daily Beast.
According to a copy of the invitation obtained by the Daily Beast, couples who donated or raised half a million dollars were given “host committee” status, which promised them a panel with Trump, a photo with the former president and VIP seating at the dinner. Co-hosts who donated or raised $100,000 also had a chance to get photos with the 2024 Republican candidate and VIP seating.
Invitation to the fundraiser “Trump 47”
Obtained from Daily Beast
Co-moderators included Warren G. Lichtenstein, executive chairman of Steel Partners; former hedge fund manager Duke Buchan, an active fundraiser for Trump who served as his ambassador to Spain and became finance chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2022; Houston billionaires Mindy and Jeff Hildebrand; Drew McKnight, a billionaire who donated to No Labels’ failed effort to recruit a third-party candidate; and Andrew McKenna Jr., whose late father was chairman of McDonald’s, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, and co-owner of the Chicago Bears.
Meanwhile, Harris was scheduled to attend a fundraiser in San Francisco on Sunday with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in honor of Harris Victory, where nearly 700 people had already donated $12 million, according to a Harris-Walz campaign spokesman.
“This major event follows the massive $36 million raised by Team Harris-Walz in 24 hours” after Governor Tim Walz was elected vice president and “a groundbreaking $310 million raised in July,” the spokesman said.
Money raised at the Republican fundraiser in Aspen on Saturday will benefit the Trump 47 campaign, a joint effort between Trump’s presidential campaign, the Republican National Committee, Trump’s Leadership PAC, Save America and state Republican parties. A Trump campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the Aspen event or whether the former president is angry as reported.
However, the Trump-Vance campaign released a statement on Sunday calling Harris a “copycat Kamala” for allegedly stealing Trump’s proposal not to tax tips. The new nickname comes after Trump called his Democratic opponent “incompetent” and questioned her intelligence and ability to debate.
Kevin Munoz, chief spokesman for Harris-Walz, said on Sunday: “While the Trump-Vance team is floundering, the Harris-Walz team is riding a historic wave of well-deserved media attention and can turn tremendous grassroots enthusiasm into a narrow election victory in November.”
