WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has raised more than $170 million for his upcoming inauguration, a record amount as tech executives and big donors have eagerly written large checks to help bankroll the ceremony.
The private donations collected thus far were confirmed by a person with firsthand knowledge of the fundraising who was not authorized to speak publicly. The person said Trump's inaugural committee is expected to raise more than $200 million by the end of the effort.
Trump's inaugural committee did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday. The committee has not yet detailed how it plans to spend the donations.
The private donations are typically used to help pay for events surrounding the inauguration, such as costs related to the oath of office ceremony itself, along with a parade and glitzy inaugural balls. Money leftover from the inaugural committee is expected to be used toward a future Trump presidential library, according to the person.
The whopping amount raised thus far by Trump's presidential inaugural committee is more than double the amount President Joe Biden raised four years ago when he brought in nearly $62 million for his inauguration, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Donations to Trump's first inauguration in 2016 also set a record when he brought in nearly $107 million.
After the former president's victory in November, along with Republicans winning control of both chambers of Congress, major donors, including tech companies, have been writing big checks as they've sought to improve their relationship with the incoming president.
Amazon and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said last month they were each planning to donate $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also said he was planning to make a $1 million personal donation.
The New York Times first reported on Wednesday the fundraising sum for this month’s inauguration.
Price reported from New York.
President-elect Donald Trump, center, and his wife Melania, walk with Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and his wife, Kimberley, to meet with Senate Republican at the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin used their final meeting Thursday to press the incoming Trump administration to not give up on Kyiv’s fight, warning that to cease military support now “will only invite more aggression, chaos and war.”
“We’ve come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not keep building on the defense coalitions we’ve created,” Zelenskyy said. “No matter what’s going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased off the map.”
Austin also announced that the U.S. would send another $500 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including missiles for fighter jets, sustainment equipment for F-16s, armored bridging systems and small arms and ammunition.
The weapons are funded through presidential drawdown authority, meaning they can be pulled directly from U.S. stockpiles, and the Pentagon is pushing to get them into Ukraine before the end of the month.
Ukraine is in the midst of launching a second offensive in Russia’s Kursk region and is facing a barrage of long-range missiles and ongoing advances from Russia as both sides seek to put themselves in the strongest negotiating point possible before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Zelenskyy called the Kursk offensive “one of our biggest wins” that has cost Russia and North Korea, which sent soldiers to help Russia in Kursk, thousands of troops. Zelenskyy said the offensive resulted in North Korea suffering 4,000 casualties, but U.S. estimates put the number lower at about 1,200.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine will continue to need air defense systems and munitions to defend against Russia's missile attacks.
The latest U.S. package leaves about $3.85 billion in funding to provide future arms shipments to Ukraine. If the Biden administration makes no further announcements, that balance will be available to Trump to send if he chooses.
“If Putin swallows Ukraine, his appetite will only grow,” Austin told the approximately 50 member nations who have been meeting over the last three years to coordinate weapons and military support for Ukraine. “If autocrats conclude that democracies will lose their nerve, surrender their interests, and forget their principles, we will only see more land grabs. If tyrants learn that aggression pays, we will only invite even more aggression, chaos, and war.”
In the months since Trump's election victory, Europe has grappled with what that change will mean in terms of their fight to keep Russia from further advancing, and whether the post-World War II western alliance will hold.
In recent days, Trump has threatened to take Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark — a NATO member — by military means if necessary. Such action would upend all norms of the historic NATO alliance and possibly require members to come to the defense of Denmark due to U.S. aggression.
Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called Trump's comments “diplomatically astonishing.”
“Alliances are alliances, to stay alliances. Regardless of who is governing countries,” he said. “I'm quite optimistic that remarks like that won't really influence U.S. politics after the 20th of January.”
There are also questions as to whether there will be a future meeting of the 50-member Ukraine Defense Contact Group, or whether it will assume a new shape under one of its major European contributors, such as Germany.
If the U.S. does not come back to the table to assist Ukraine, Pistorius said Germany and several other European countries are discussing options. Pistorius said he intends to travel to the U.S. shortly after the inauguration to meet his new counterpart to discuss the issue.
“It’s clear a new chapter starts for Europe and the entire world just 11 days from now,” Zelenskyy said. “A time when we will have to cooperate even more, rely even more on one another even more and achieve even greater results together.”
Globally, countries including the U.S. have ramped up domestic weapons production as the Ukraine war exposed that all of those stockpiles were woefully unprepared for a major conventional land war.
The U.S. has provided about $66 billion of the total aid since February 2022 and has been able to deliver most of that total — between 80% and 90% — already to Ukraine.
“Retreat will only provide incentives for more imperial aggression,” Austin told the group. “And if we flinch, you can count on Putin to push further and punch harder. Ukraine’s survival is on the line. But so is the security of Europe, the United States, and the world.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius attend a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius attend a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius attends a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius attend a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)
