All articles tagged with #donors
The White House defends nearly $1 billion in security-related construction, including a new East Wing ballroom, funded by a mix of Secret Service/White House Military Office dollars and private donors; a federal judge has paused part of the ballroom work pending Congressional approval, as critics warn of potential conflicts of interest amid scrutiny of donor-backed contracts.
A former DNC fundraiser, Lindy Li, warned on Fox News that major donors are unlikely to back Kamala Harris in a 2028 bid, citing Democratic divisions, fundraising struggles, and a leftward drift toward socialism. Li said donors view contributions as a business proposition, have grown frustrated with money handling and accountability, and noted billions spent by Harris’s campaign operation and allied groups.
A federal appeals court denied a request to pause a lower-court order requiring the Kennedy Center to remove Donald Trump’s name from its facade, saying the center did not substantiate claims that keeping the name would protect donors or harm funding; with the name already removed and a tarp covering the front, the case remains on appeal as the center weighs renovation options.
Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee released an interim report accusing Freedom250 of misleading donors who believed they were supporting America250, including sharing Freedom250’s routing numbers with donors intended to contribute to America250. The report, titled “From Vanity to Insanity,” argues the project hijacked the semiquincentennial to push Christian nationalist, Trump-aligned aims and describes fundraising abuses and nonprofit manipulation that could constitute fraud, though prosecutors have not declared a crime established.
Kentucky’s new athletic director, J Batt (also Champions Blue CEO), met with Mark Pope and top booster Joe Craft to pledge aggressive fundraising and full resource support in the NIL era, insisting he’ll be the Wildcats’ biggest supporter and work closely with donors to maintain an elite standard as UK pursues rapid, top-tier success.
After eviction and a lis pendens stalled its move, Cheder Chabad of Florida secured a confidential settlement that preserves its contract to buy a 10-acre, 65,000-square-foot campus off a South Florida highway. With the tenant vacating this summer, the school is set to close on its permanent home for the next school year, thanks to strong community support, though a substantial down payment remains to be raised to complete closing.
The Trump Board of Peace has no cash in its official Gaza reconstruction fund despite pledges from the US and other countries and backing from the World Bank and UN; money has not been deposited because the reconstruction phase has not begun. Donors reportedly pledged billions (US up to $10B; Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE each at least $1B), but the fund remains empty. An EU-UN assessment estimates Gaza will need around €60–€71B over the next decade, and questions about transparency have surfaced amid reports of donations entering a JPMorgan account.
After Ken Paxton’s Texas GOP primary win over Sen. John Cornyn, donors warn the general election could be the most expensive yet, with some predicting as much as $150 million needed to win in a state with 20 media markets; Paxton trails in fundraising and will rely on national groups and MAGA Inc., while Trump’s backing complicates and accelerates fundraising dynamics. Democrats see opportunities but expect heavy outside spending, which could divert funds from other battlegrounds as both sides brace for a high-stakes, expensive race.
Days before Kentucky's GOP primary, Rep. Thomas Massie claims that out-of-state billionaires (including Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer) and groups tied to the Israeli lobby are funding a bid to “buy a seat” in Congress, a charge he says frames this race as a referendum on foreign policy. He is facing a Trump-backed challenger, Ed Gallrein, as Trump posts attacks against Massie; Massie touts grassroots support and poll leads while groups tied to the Israeli lobby respond and comment requests are pursued by ABC News.
The Trump administration’s White House state dinner for King Charles III and Queen Camilla featured a guest list heavy with American billionaires, Fox News personalities, tech and corporate leaders, and conservative Supreme Court justices, with no Democratic politicians and limited British cultural representation, signaling a partisan, donor-driven showcase rather than a bipartisan cultural event.
International donors have pledged more funding than expected for Haiti's new UN-backed security force, signaling strong backing as the country seeks to bolster police capacity amid rising gang violence, with coordination between the UN framework and Haitian authorities at the forefront and ongoing questions about sovereignty and effectiveness.
U.S. prosecutors indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on federal wire, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering charges, alleging the charity used donor funds to pay confidential informants infiltrating extremist groups without disclosing these payments to donors or authorities; the indictment notes at least $3 million in payments from 2014–2023 to informants linked to groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations. SPLC says the payments funded intelligence work to monitor threats and that information was shared with law enforcement, while legal experts say the case centers on the alleged use of funds rather than ordinary fraud and may hinge on proving deliberate deceit about purposes of the payments.
CBS News outlines how billionaire donors and opaque political groups are shaping fundraising ahead of the 2026 midterms, highlighting the Mandels’ Democratic giving and the intertwined Majority Democrats PAC/The Bench, alongside MAGA Inc. and other Republican outfits, all within a murky donor network and a weakened FEC that raises concerns about transparency and possible coordination.
Democratic Senate candidates posted massive fundraising in the first quarter, led by James Talarico's $27 million haul, with Ossoff, Cooper, Peltola and Brown also reporting strong totals, signaling rising optimism about flipping the Senate despite challenging maps; the live updates also touch on GOP debates over FISA 702 reauthorization and other Capitol Hill headlines.
North Carolina is weighing Hubert Davis’s future after a stunning first-round exit to VCU in the NCAA Tournament, with athletic director Bubba Cunningham, incoming AD Steve Newmark and Chancellor Lee Roberts evaluating the program amid donor fatigue and fundraising concerns. No decision has been announced; the buyout to fire Davis is roughly $5.3 million, and the looming NCAA transfer portal opening in April adds urgency to stabilize the roster, potentially signaling a historic coaching change for UNC.