Billionaire Republican major donor Miriam Adelson appears to be pursuing a blank-check policy when it comes to her support of former President Donald Trump as she seeks to help him return to the White House.
Adelson's political adviser Andy Abboud was overheard Thursday telling attendees at a campaign rally at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, that whatever the Republican presidential candidate needs from Adelson, he will get his boss's support, according to Abboud and a person familiar with the matter.
This person and one other person in this story were granted anonymity to speak freely about private matters.
“We will do whatever it takes to make him win,” Abboud said in a brief telephone interview with CNBC on Friday, confirming these overheard comments. “In their [Adelson’s] spirit and in the minds of those who lead the political action committee [Preserve America]we will do whatever it takes to make him win.”
He noted that the money Adelson donates to support Trump will not necessarily be unlimited, and did not give a specific figure for how much the businesswoman might donate to support Trump.
The Preserve America super PAC, which Adelson is co-funding, plans to spend more than the more than $100 million it used to oppose President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, David Carney, a senior adviser to the committee, said in a statement to CNBC. Adelson has already donated $5 million to the PAC, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
The super PAC can spend and raise unlimited amounts to run against Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. It has reserved more than $40 million worth of television ads attacking Harris and supporting Trump through September, according to data from AdImpact. The super PAC will spend about $60 million through Labor Day, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The ads will air in the key states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Adelson spoke out in full support of Trump at the New Jersey rally and called on Jewish voters to support him rather than Harris.
“President Trump deserves the full support of the entire Jewish people,” said Adelson, who received the Medal of Freedom from Trump in 2018. “And to everyone who cares about the security and prosperity of Israel, this must be our promise to him – this must be our promise to him – that in January he will have the White House back.”
Abboud's admission that Adelson will do whatever she can to help Trump over Harris suggests that she could potentially emerge as one of the key donors to the former president's support by the end of the 2024 election cycle.
Adelson is the widow of the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and has a net worth of over $28 billion, according to Forbes. Miriam Adelson and her family own over half of Las Vegas Sands, the casino giant founded by her late husband.
Both Miriam and Sheldon Adelson have been major Trump donors since the 2016 election. Together, they were the largest donors in the 2020 election, donating $200 million to Republicans and about $90 million to Preserve America, according to data from OpenSecrets.
According to FEC records, the Super PAC ultimately raised just over $105 million, spending most of its money opposing then-President Biden.
The donations came after the Adelsons gained access to Trump and achieved political successes under his administration, such as moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
There is no indication that Miriam Adelson will stop her donations, although the New York Times, citing sources, reported that Adelson received angry text messages from a Trump adviser complaining about the people who run Preserve America.
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