Trump’s newest grift? A candlelight dinner—and tickets start at $1M

Donald Trump speaks at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on June 5, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Several upcoming events have once again reintroduced the issue of Donald Trump personally profiting from political fundraising.

The Washington Post reports that Make America Great Again, Inc., the top pro-Trump super PAC, plans to host an event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club for donors who pay $1 million per person. Those who cut a check will be served dinner by candlelight and get to meet Trump, billed as the “special guest” for the event.

Holding the event on Trump’s property means that the PAC will surely be paying the venue hosting fees—money that should then find its way into Trump’s personal account.

House Republicans have similarly announced that they will hold their annual retreat at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida, in late January. Trump has owned that property since 2012 and will no doubt financially benefit from hosting fees paid by the lawmakers he is set to work with after he is sworn in.

At the same time, the official Trump inauguration committee has announced that it will hold a “candlelight dinner” for donors who have given $1 to $2 million on Jan. 19, the day before Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated. Donors are also being given access to dinners with Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, Usha, as well as Trump’s Cabinet nominees (if they haven’t dropped out by then).

After Trump won in 2016, his inauguration committee was the subject of a lawsuit from the Washington, D.C., attorney general. Officials charged that the committee overpaid for accommodations at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, just a few blocks from the White House (Trump no longer owns the hotel). The committee ultimately agreed to pay $750,000 in 2022 to resolve the suit.

Trump has shown time and time again that if he is presented with an opportunity to personally profit from his political position, he will take it. Recently, that has taken the shape of Trump-branded fragrances, guitars, gold sneakers, and cryptocurrency—among many other objects.

Now that he has secured the most powerful office in the world, the grift is back in overdrive.