US President Donald Trump raised a record $239 million for his January inauguration, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing on Sunday — more than double the amount for his previous swearing-in.
The hundreds of donors to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee included household names like Airbnb, McDonald’s and Microsoft, with corporate giants Amazon, Meta and JP Morgan Chase each donating at least $1 million.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also donated $1 million for the January 20 inauguration where tech figures took center stage.
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The record amount dwarfs the $107 million that Trump took in donations for festivities to celebrate his first inauguration in January 2017.
It also far exceeds the average amount raised by recent presidents, with Democrat Joe Biden cashing in around $61 million for his 2021 swearing-in.
The $239 million does not include over $6 million in donations that were later refunded.
Inaugural committees are required by law to report the details of each donation worth $200 or more, with foreign nationals banned from contributing funds.
Around a dozen billionaires were present for Trump’s ceremony in January, with some commentators on social media putting their total value at around $1 trillion — the approximate GDP of Switzerland.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google chief Sundar Pichai, Apple boss Tim Cook and the world’s richest man — Tesla CEO Elon Musk — were all sitting nearby as Trump was sworn in.
AFP
