The Republican megadonors paying up for dinner with Donald Trump

Good morning and welcome to US Election Countdown. Today we’re chatting about:

• A megadonor fundraiser for Trump

• What’s at stake for Trump’s property portfolio

• How US credit card debt is weighing on voters

Billionaire investor John Paulson has announced he’ll hold a flashy fundraiser for Donald Trump next month as the former president’s need for campaign cash grows alongside his stack of legal bills and judgments.

Paulson will host the dinner [free to read] in Palm Beach on April 6 alongside two people who have flocked to Trump after initially supporting his rivals: Robert Bigelow, a real estate investor who was the biggest donor to Florida governor Ron DeSantis during his failed presidential bid, and Harold Hamm, a shale oil baron who had called on Trump to drop out of the race in July last year.

There are two guest tiers, reports the FT’s Alex Rogers: those who give at least $250,000, and those who drop a cool $814,600 — and get to sit at Trump’s table. Everybody will be able to snap a photo with the former president and receive a goody bag with a “personalised ‘Our Journey Together’ coffee table book”, according to the invitation. (In case you’re wondering about the book’s content, it is filled with photos from Trump’s time in office and features him waving from Air Force One on the cover.) 

The fundraiser will benefit the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and Save America, a group that has shelled out more than $50mn for the former president’s legal bills.

Trump needs all the money he can get at the moment. About 30 potential underwriters have declined to help the former president secure a bond to postpone the enforcement of a $464mn civil fraud judgment. Not to mention, he’s lagging far behind US President Joe Biden in raising campaign cash.

Others ponying up to co-chair the event include sugar tycoon Pepe Fanjul, casino magnates Steve Wynn and Phil Ruffin, World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon and conservative megadonors Robert and Rebekah Mercer. Former US senator Kelly Loeffler — who represented the swing state of Georgia — and her husband, Intercontinental Exchange founder Jeffrey Sprecher, will also be there, among others.

Campaign clips

• Biden was in the swing state of Arizona yesterday to announce that Intel will get $8.5bn in US funding to make more high-end chips, as he tries to boost his weak economic approval ratings.

• Bernie Moreno, Trump’s preferred candidate in the Ohio Senate race, won the Republican primary and will face Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in what is expected to be a hotly contested congressional election [free to read]. 

• The president’s campaign for re-election expanded its cash advantage over Trump in February, according to its latest report, which was filed last night. (Politico)

• Biden is successfully wooing donors who backed Nikki Haley’s campaign to be the Republican presidential nominee, including businessman Mark Cuban. (CNBC, ABC)

Behind the scenes

Trump went on a social media tirade earlier this week to say he might be forced into a “fire sale” of his assets to hold off the enforcement of that $464mn judgment we keep talking about.

New York attorney-general Letitia James — who has rejected Trump’s claim that it’s “practically impossible” to post the bond — has her eye on 40 Wall Street, the crown jewel of the former president’s real estate portfolio, for seizure if he doesn’t pay up. So what is the building actually worth?

Here’s what the FT’s Joshua Chaffin, who covers the world of New York real estate, told me:

It is hard to say in the midst of a crisis in which office towers are being marked down 50 per cent or more — if they are selling at all, according to developers. The market for office towers is all but frozen. “No one wants to lend, no one wants to buy,” said one veteran real estate investor. Meanwhile, there may be worse to come.

“The full weight of the downside hasn’t been recognised yet,” another investor said, explaining why they would be steering clear of offices for the foreseeable future. “We don’t believe we’ve reached the bottom yet.”

Datapoint

Credit card debt among US consumers has skyrocketed since 2020 — the year before Biden took office — and Republicans have heaped blame on the president.

While Biden did say in his State of the Union address that he’s going after $20bn of “junk fees”, including late credit card late charges, it did not stop US senator Katie Britt from calling out “the highest credit card debt in history” in the Republican response.

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Nominal credit card debt hit a record $1.13tn in the last three months of 2023, growing at one of the fastest rates in more than 20 years, according to the New York branch of the Federal Reserve. And as banks reap record profits from credit card lending, delinquencies on credit card loans have hit their highest level in almost 13 years, says Moody’s Analytics.

Credit card debt is a priority issue for voters — 28 per cent said it was one of their biggest sources of financial stress, according to the March edition of the FT-Michigan Ross poll.

Viewpoints

• Edward Luce imagines the schadenfreude of bailiffs seizing bling at Mar-a-Lago as Trump faces the reality that no one will lend to him.

• Washington under Donald Trump could abandon Ukraine, an act that would show catastrophic western weakness, writes Martin Wolf.

• Foreign policy is not usually a hot presidential campaign topic, but Benjamin Wallace-Wells tells us how and why that has changed this year. (The New Yorker)

• Jane Coaston puts important questions to polling expert David Byler, among them: should voters and readers trust polling? (NYT)

• Check out these books on US politics and the presidency ahead of the election, as recommended by FT writers.