GOP dances around Trump’s lingering presence
Rather than reset, meeting reminds of party tensions
The first spring donor retreat after a defeat for a political party is typically a moment of reflection and renewal as officials chart a new direction forward.
But with former President Donald Trump determined to keep his grip on the Republican Party and the party’s base as adhered to him as ever, the coming together of the Republican National Committee’s top donors in South Florida this weekend is less a moment of reset and more a reminder of the continuing tensions and schisms roiling the GOP.
The same former president who last month sent the RNC a cease-anddesist letter demanding they stop using his likeness to raise money will on Saturday evening serve as the party’s fundraising headliner.
“A tremendous complication” was how Fred Zeidman, a veteran Republican fundraiser in Texas, described Trump’s lingering presence on the political scene.
The delicate dance between Trump and the party — after losing the House, the Senate and the White House on his watch — will manifest in some actual shuttle bus diplomacy Saturday as the party’s top donors attend a series of receptions and panels at the Four Seasons Resort before traveling to Mar-a-lago, the former president’s private club, to hear Trump speak.
Trump’s insistence on leading the party “affects every member,” Zeidman said, as lawmakers and would-be elected officials jockey for a Trump endorsement that is as powerful in a Republican primary as it can be problematic in a general election.
“He’s already proven that he wants to have a major say or keep control of the party, and he’s already shown every sign that he’s going to primary everybody that has not been supportive of him,” Zeidman said. “He complicates everything so much.”
Among other things, Trump is considering running again in 2024. Although few of his allies believe he will follow through, his presence could have a chilling effect on other potential candidates.
“The party is still very much revolving around” Trump, said Andrea Catsimatidis, chair of the Manhattan Republican Party and a donor who will be at the retreat. “He was the one who very much revived the party when we weren’t winning.”
Also inescapable is the fact that Trump has quickly built a political war chest that rivals that of the RNC. An adviser to Trump said he currently had about $85 million on hand, compared with nearly $84 million for the RNC.
“Send your donation to Save America PAC,”
Trump urged supporters last month, not to “RINOS,” the derisive acronym for “Republicans in Name Only.” Trump has appeared as passionate about punishing Republicans who crossed him, especially those who supported his second impeachment, as he has about taking back the House and Senate in 2022.
For party officials, the goal is keeping the energy that has propelled Trump to success inside the Republican tent while not entirely allowing the former president to dominate it. Ronna Mcdaniel, the RNC chair whom Trump supported for a second term, has vowed to remain neutral in a potential 2024 primary should Trump run again.
“It is a difficult balancing act,” said Bill Palatucci, a Republican National Committeeman from New Jersey who has been critical of Trump.
“The president certainly has devoted followers,” Palatucci said, “but he also more than offended a lot of people with his conduct since the November election, which culminated in his helping to incite the riot on Jan. 6.”
Several Republicans who are considered likely to run for president in 2024 — including Sen.
Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Gov. Ron Desantis of Florida and Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota — were scheduled to speak to the RNC’S donors at the Four Seasons. Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state and CIA director who served under Trump, had been scheduled to speak Friday but did not attend the gathering.
Notably absent are two leading Republican figures who also skipped the last big Republican gathering, the Conservative Political Action Conference, that Trump attended: former Vice President Mike
Pence, who is starting his own political advocacy group, and Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador.
Among donors, the jockeying for favor and financing extends beyond Trump and the RNC.
On Thursday and Friday, a separate but overlapping gathering for Republican contributors was held at Trump’s private club: an “investors meeting ” of the Conservative Partnership Institute, a nonprofit organization. Mark Meadows, who served as Trump’s chief of staff, is now a senior adviser for the group, and Caroline Wren, who used to fundraise for the former president, is raising money for it.
Donors are being pitched on a dizzying array of Trump-adjacent projects, including Pence’s group and new entities being started by Ben Carson, Trump’s former housing secretary; Stephen Miller, his former White House adviser; and Russell Vought, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s first campaign manager in 2016, is said to be involved with efforts to start a Trump-aligned super political action committee as well.
The RNC had initially planned for its entire retreat to be held nearby in Palm Beach, but organizers moved the final Saturday evening events to Trump’s resort, meaning the party will again be paying the former president’s private club to use its space.