Trump inauguration raised record $313 million: FEC
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The record amount dwarfs the US$107 million (S$140 million) that Mr Trump took in donations for festivities to celebrate his first inauguration in January 2017.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump raised a record US$239 million (S$313 million) for his January inauguration, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing on April 20 – more than double the amount for his previous swearing-in.
The hundreds of donors to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee included household names like Airbnb, McDonald’s and Microsoft, with corporate giants Amazon, Meta and JP Morgan Chase each donating at least US$1 million.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also donated US$1 million for the Jan 20 inauguration where tech figures took centre stage
The record amount dwarfs the US$107 million that Mr Trump took in donations for festivities to celebrate his first inauguration in January 2017.
It also far exceeds the average amount raised by recent presidents, with Democrat Joe Biden cashing in around US$61 million for his 2021 swearing-in.
The US$239 million does not include over US$6 million in donations that were later refunded.
Inaugural committees are required by law to report the details of each donation worth US$200 or more, with foreign nationals banned from contributing funds.
Around a dozen billionaires were present for Mr Trump’s ceremony in January, with some commentators on social media putting their total value at around US$1 trillion – the approximate GDP of Switzerland.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google chief Sundar Pichai, Apple boss Tim Cook and the world’s richest man – Tesla CEO Elon Musk – were all sitting nearby as Mr Trump was sworn in. AFP
