The former US president has a number of deep-pocketed friends who have broken the bank to get Trump back in the White House – even though he has nothing to offer.
Original title: "Trump's Top 10 Billionaire Donors"
Donald Trump kicked off his 2016 presidential campaign by saying, "I don't need anybody's donations — and that feels good." I don't need a donor. On that campaign, he paid $66 million out of his own pocket.
But in fact, Trump in 2016 relied on donors, only to the same extent as he does today. In this year's U.S. election, the former president has yet to take a penny out of his wallet, while other billionaires have poured millions of dollars into groups that support him.
According to the Federal Election Commission's latest filing, the 10 billionaires who have donated the most in this presidential race are all longtime supporters of the former president, who have donated a total of $123 million to pro-Trump groups.
It doesn't sound like a small amount, but these people have a combined net worth of more than $55 billion, allowing them to continue to play "money power" in the next election campaign. In the five months that followed, as Americans decide for the third time whether to let Trump in the White House, they are expected to write more big checks.
Here are the top 10 billionaires who have donated the most to Trump:
Timothy Mellon
（Timothy Mellon）
Total donations for the Trump team this election: $76.5 million
Net worth: more than $1 billion
Timothy Mellon is a descendant of the Mellon family, whose fortune of about $14 billion dates back to the Gilded Age of American history (1870-1898).
Back in 2020, Mellon donated $20 million to one of Trump's campaigns, and the day after a New York jury convicted the former president of the United States on 34 felony charges, Mellon donated $50 million to a pro-Trump super political action committee (PAC). Mellon started a computer programming company in the 60s of the 20th century, then began buying railroads, forming a railroad company, and selling the company for $600 million in 2020. In addition, he spent more than $1 million trying to find the wreckage of the plane of Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot to set a flight distance record in the '30s.
Linda McMahon
(Linda McMahon,文斯·麦克马洪的妻子)
Total donations for the Trump team this election: $11.1 million
Net worth: $2.9 billion
图片来源：CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
During Trump's first time in the White House, McMahon served as director of the U.S. Small Business Administration before leaving the U.S. election before the 2020 U.S. election to become co-chair of Trump's main super political action committee.
Her husband, Vince, who turned a regional wrestling league into a multibillion-dollar world-class wrestling entertainment empire (WWE), resigned as executive chairman of WWE's parent company in January because of sexual assault allegations. Now, Linda McMahon, who ran unsuccessfully for the Connecticut Senate in 2010 and 2012, is the president of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump nonprofit organization (with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow as vice chairman). She is also a member of the board of directors of the Trump Media and Technology Group.
Colts Warren
(Kelcy Warren)
Total donations for the Trump team in this election: $5.8 million
Net worth: $6.3 billion
图片来源：JOHN L. MONE/AP
Warren is the executive chairman of Energy Transfer, which owns the Dakota Access Pipeline, which Mr. Trump helped build after taking office in 2017 and began transporting oil the same year it went into operation. Back in 2016, Warren, a loyal follower of Trump, donated $100,000 to support Trump's campaign. To date, Warren has generously donated more than $11 million to Trump's re-election and has donated nearly $6 million to pro-Trump teams this year alone.
Diane Hendrix
（Diane Hendricks）
Total donation for the Trump team this election: $5.5 million
Net worth: $20.9 billion
图片来源：GABRIELA HASBUN FOR FORBES
In 2015, when former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker withdrew from the presidential race, Trump didn't pay much attention. He also said dismissively to his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, "Corey, see if you can get his vote." ”
Eventually, though, Trump caught the eye of Walker's most important supporter, Diane Hendrix, America's richest self-made woman. Hendricks, who served as vice chair of Trump's 2016 Ways and Means Committee, donated more than $6 million in the 2020 election and has already donated $5.5 million in this year's campaign. Hendrix, a former Playboy bunny girl, co-founded ABC Supply, a building materials company with her late husband, Ken, and built it into a $20 billion building materials giant.
Timothy Dunn
（Timothy Dunn）
The total amount donated by the Trump team for this election: $5 million
Net worth: $2.2 billion
图片来源：GUERIN BLASK FIOR FORBES
Dunn made his fortune in West Texas by founding a private oil well company called CrownQuest. He has been donating to Trump since 2020, but in this campaign, he has become even more generous. Last December, Dunn donated $5 million to Trump's largest super PAC. In addition to this, he donated $2.5 million to the action committees of other Republican candidates, including those that support Indiana Rep. Jim Banks and Florida Senator Rick Scott.
Elisabeth Ouilein
(Elizabeth Uihlein)
The total amount donated by the Trump team for this election: $5 million
Net worth: $6.6 billion
Richard Ouylain
（Richard Uihlein）
The total amount donated by the Trump team for this election: $5 million
Net worth: $6.6 billion
图片来源：PAUL MORIGI/GETTY IMAGES
In 1980, the Ueleins founded Uline, a packaging materials company, in their basement in Wisconsin. Today, the company has annual sales of $6.1 billion, and the couple has a combined net worth of $13.2 billion.
Their wealth has become an important source of funding for Republican campaigns over the past few campaigns — Richard alone funded $84 million to the GOP in the 2022 midterm elections. In a way, they have been Trump supporters, donating more than $500,000 to a pro-Trump group in 2016 and another $1 million in 2020. However, during the 2016 primary, Richard also donated $2 million to an anti-Trump group. Last year, the two donated another $3 million to a super PAC that supports Trump challenger Ron DeSantis. But the Euilenes are now completely on Trump's side: Last month, they each donated $5 million to Trump's main PAC.
Phil Raffin
（Phil Ruffin）
Total donation for the Trump team in this election: $3.3 million
Net worth: $2.6 billion
图片来源：TIM PANNELL FOR FORBES
Few billionaires are closer to Mr. Trump than Mr. Rafin, who shares the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas with the former American president.
During the 2016 U.S. election, Mr. Trump and Mr. Raffin secured a $30 million loan against the Las Vegas hotel because they failed to secure funding from Deutsche Bank. Over the next six weeks, Trump poured another $12 million out of his own funds into the campaign. Fortunately, for Raffin, the money is a drop in the bucket, as his business empire includes two of the largest casinos on the Vegas Strip, Treasure Island and Circus Circus Casinos, with a net worth of $2.6 billion. In addition, he and his wife, Oleksandra, were married at Trump's Mar-a-Lago, where Trump also served as the best man. His donations to pro-Trump groups in the 2024 election have already exceeded those of the previous two elections combined.
Jeffrey Palmer
（Geoffrey Palmer）
Total donation for the Trump team this election: $3 million
Net worth: $3.1 billion
图片来源：STEFANIE KEENAN/GETTY IMAGES
Palmer, who owns 11,000 apartments, is one of the largest landlords in Los Angeles, but he's also been involved in politics. His company was fined in the '90s for helping California launder campaign funds to circumvent the donation cap. However, in a day when election rules are no longer so strict, Palmer can now donate as much as he wants to the U.S. election. In 2016, he donated $6.3 million to Trump's super PAC, another $10.5 million in 2020, and $3 million so far this year.
Robert Wood Johnson
（Robert“Woody”Johnson）
Total donations for the Trump team this election: $2.7 million
Net worth: $3.2 billion
图片来源：MAX MUMBY/INDIGO/GETTY IMAGES
The owner of the New York Jets is the heir to the medical giant Johnson & Johnson and a former ambassador to the United Kingdom.
One of the tasks Trump gave him at the time was reportedly to ensure that the British Open was held at Trump Turnberry, a historic golf course that Trump purchased two and a half years before taking office. Although Johnson failed to secure the rights to host the British Open for Trump Turnberry, according to CNBC, he has been loyal to Trump and has also co-opted those Dorking Republicans who left Trump after the "Capitol Hill riot" on January 6. During the campaign, Johnson donated $1.9 million to pro-Trump groups, as did his wife, Suzanne, more than $800,000.
The author of this article is a Forbes contributor, and the content of the article represents the author's own views only.
This article is translated from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/leokamin/2024/06/26/here-are-trumps-10-biggest-billionaire-donors-mcmahon-mellon-uiehlein/
文:Leo Fireplace
翻译:Sunny&Bella
Proofreading: Vivian
Forbes China exclusive manuscript, please do not reprint without permission
Header image source: Getty Images
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