Earlier this month, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was propelled to victory by a small group of megadonors. As he forms his next administration, some of them are now being considered for important roles.
Top funders to successful presidential campaigns have always been considered for high-level administration positions, from Cabinet posts directly influencing White House policies to plum ambassador jobs in tropical regions.
And now, several important donors seem to be involved as Trump fills up the top levels of his transition and administration.
Leading Trump’s transition is Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive who managed Trump’s Small Business Administration during his first term and has held top positions at several pro-Trump outside organizations. She gave more than $21 million to Trump’s campaign this election season, including $937,800 to his campaign and related joint fundraising committees and more than $20 million to the Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC.
(As of October 16, the date of the most recent federal campaign filings, these numbers are up to date. The complete image of donations through Election Day will be displayed in new documents that must be filed in December.)
Howard Lutnick, McMahon’s co-transition director, donated over $400,000 to Trump’s campaign and connected groups, in addition to an additional $6 million to MAGA Inc. Trump named Lutnick his choice to lead the Commerce Department on Tuesday.
Chris Wright, the CEO of Liberty Energy who was appointed as Trump’s energy secretary, donated almost $235,000 to the campaign and its linked groups.
The megadonor status of two alleged treasury secretary contenders is another similarity.
Scott Bessent, a prominent Trump donor who has been considered to head the Treasury Department, gave more than $1 million to MAGA Inc. and an additional $676,500 to Trump’s campaign and related organizations, according to two people familiar with the process who spoke to NBC News.
The millionaire CEO of Apollo Global Management, Marc Rowan, donated $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC, Right for America. Trump advisers have mentioned him as a potential candidate for the Treasury position, according to a Wall Street Journal story this week.
The entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, was enlisted by Trump to co-lead a drive to reduce federal spending. Musk spent a lot of money to assist Trump win office, mostly by establishing America PAC, a super PAC that organized to support Trump. Additionally, the super PAC conducted a contentious program in which voters in battleground states who signed Musk’s petition received checks totaling $1 million. Musk had donated over $118.5 million to that organization as of mid-October.
Right for America received $25 million through October 16 from Ike Perlmutter, a millionaire who served as the head of Marvel Entertainment and counseled Trump on veterans problems during the first administration, and his spouse.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and his first term top adviser, donated over $851,000 to the campaign and its linked groups. The identical sum, plus an additional $1.2 million, was donated to a pro-Trump super PAC by his father, Charles Kushner, who was pardoned by Trump.
Naturally, not all significant donors will become members of the Trump administration.
Following Musk, two other megadonors surpassed the $100 million threshold in their contributions to pro-Trump organizations: the late GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson’s wife, casino tycoon Miriam Adelson, who owns the Dallas Mavericks, and billionaire Tim Mellon, who contributed at least $150 million. According to the most recent public numbers, she donated about $101 million.
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