Conservative money groups may be turning on Trump, but can they sink him?
Haisten Willis
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A number of big-money conservative political donors appear to be distancing themselves from Donald Trump despite his status as the only declared Republican in the 2024 race, but it’s unclear how much of an impact they will have on his presidential prospects.
Among the donors to have already distanced themselves from the former president to look for new blood are the Club for Growth, the Koch brothers-aligned Americans for Prosperity Action, Citadel hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman.
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“To write a new chapter for our country, we need to turn the page on the past. So the best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter,” reads an internal memo from AFP Action senior adviser Emily Seidel. “The American people have shown that they’re ready to move on, and so AFP will help them do that.”
The group is far from alone in that sentiment. Anti-tax advocacy group Club for Growth has excluded Trump from a donor event where it invited several of his potential GOP challengers, leading Trump to lash out at it with the pejorative, “The Club For NO Growth.”
Griffin, who gave $1 million to a Trump PAC in 2018, similarly said he’d like the Republican Party to move on from “a three-time loser,” specifically voicing his support for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), while Schwarzman has donated $3.7 million to Trump-aligned groups over the years but says he’ll be supporting one of a “new generation of leaders.”
The major question is how much this lack of big-money support will harm Trump, who has always labeled himself as an anti-establishment outsider and could even try to use the funding pullback to his advantage. Hillary Clinton famously outraised Trump 2-to-1 in 2016 but failed to convert that haul into a win.
“Clearly, the big-money guys don’t like Trump, but then again, they never liked Trump. They only supported him reluctantly,” said GOP strategist John Feehery. “The fact that they still don’t like him doesn’t surprise me at all — not sure if it will make much of a difference in the race.”
The Kochs have publicly diverged from Trump in the past, opposing some of his policies, such as tariffs. Trump has also publicly lashed out against Charles and his late brother David for alleged “globalist” tendencies. Club for Growth initially backed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2016 before supporting Trump in 2016 and 2020.
But some Trump defections go deeper than just big-money donors. His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner are not planning to be part of his 2024 campaign, and there were reports that many in the Mar-a-Lago crowd where he announced tried to leave the venue before his speech concluded.
Support also appears to be building for some of Trump’s potential rivals, especially DeSantis. A pair of Super PACs have already emerged to back the Florida governor’s White House bid even before it starts, though he has distanced himself from them.
Trump is beginning to move his nascent campaign into gear, hosting events in New Hampshire and South Carolina and throwing shade at rivals.
While many top GOPers say they’re ready to move on, that will be easier said than done, argues Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.
“If I was a Republican strategist and I wanted a Republican president, I’d be running as far away from Trump as I could,” he said. “So they’re certainly doing a wise thing.”
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Trump’s potential to run as a third-party candidate or try to sabotage the Republican nominee if it isn’t him remains a dangerous scenario for the GOP, Bannon added. Nonetheless, he says Trump would likely be the candidate most Democrats would like to see become the nominee.
“From the Democratic side, I’d much rather run against Trump than anybody else,” he said.