Former President Trump spoke at a fundraiser at his Newport Beach bayfront mansion on Saturday, vowing to defeat “Villain Joe Biden” in November, return to the White House to pursue his “America First” policies, avoid unnecessary foreign conflicts and close the border.
“He was wonderful, as always,” said Santa Clarita dentist Harleen Grewal, 41. “He talked about the state of the country, the American Dream, what it takes to bring back Americans, how we have to think about our own country first and close open borders. As a legal immigrant, I feel the same way. Everyone should be able to come in through the right process, the legal process.”
“He talked about the war that’s going on right now. During his presidency there was no war and we had the best economy in the history of the United States,” she added. “We as Americans need to get that back. If we don’t do it this time, America is finished. We really are.”
According to Newport Beach police, about 3,000 Trump supporters greeted the former president, chanting “Donald! Donald!” as the Republican presidential nominee’s motorcade pulled into a fundraiser at the gates of Harbor Island shortly before 1 p.m.
Earlier, Andrea Flores, 49, of Rancho Santa Margarita, stood on a street corner wearing a red Trump baseball cap and chatting with fellow supporters, as people waved “Trump 2024” flags and banners that read “We will never surrender!” and “We stand united with Trump!”
“I hope people can put aside their hatred for him and do what’s best for the country,” Flores said. “Right now we only have two candidates. One is a guy who can’t walk or talk, and the other is a guy who is hated. We have to choose one.”
Flores, a Republican, said the economy and the border are among his top issues in this election. As for Trump’s recent felony conviction, several supporters in the audience, including Flores, called the charges “politically motivated.”
Saturday’s event was the final stop on a three-day fundraising trip in California and his first opportunity to reach donors since a New York jury convicted him on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who allegedly engaged in sexual acts during a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe with the intent of influencing the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has lagged behind President Biden in fundraising both nationally and in California. Democrats have also been spending their time raising money in the state, with Vice President Kamala Harris holding at least three fundraisers this week. Biden is headlining a major fundraiser next weekend alongside former President Barack Obama and actors George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
On Friday and Saturday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke at a fundraiser for Democratic congressional candidates at Torrey Pines Lodge in La Jolla.
Trump has received an infusion of cash since his verdict was handed down on May 30, notably reporting that he raised $53 million in the first 24 hours after the trial ended. Campaign officials said that at a fundraiser in San Francisco on Thursday, an event in Beverly Hills on Friday, a luncheon in Newport Beach on Saturday and another rally in Las Vegas, Trump was expected to raise $27.5 million for his campaign committee and another $6 million for other groups supporting his effort.
Trump, who is bound by a gag order while awaiting sentencing, did not mention his conviction at any of his California fundraisers.
On Saturday, donors spent up to $100,000 to attend a roundtable and luncheon in Newport Beach, the cheapest top ticket of the trip, at a house overlooking Newport Bay surrounded by a flotilla of boats flying Trump, MAGA and American flags.
Donald Holley Sr., 82, woke up Saturday morning with his heart pounding. It was his first time meeting Mr. Trump, and he carried a bottle of soda to settle his stomach as he approached the hotel. His son, Richard Holley, 56, followed close behind, using a roller to brush cat hair off his father’s suit.
“He knows how to run a business and he certainly knows how to run a country,” Holley said. “You look at what we’ve been through. In terms of inflation, there was no world war, everything was fine under President Trump.”
Trump supporters in Newport Beach attended a fundraiser for the former president on Saturday.
(Myung J. Chung/Los Angeles Times)
The event was held at the home of health insurance company co-founder John Ward and his wife Kimberly, who decorated their house with red, white and blue flags along the seawall and the doors and windows of their property. Palmer Luckey, a billionaire tech entrepreneur who lives in nearby Lido Isle, was also a co-host.
Attendees munched on ceviche, barbecued shrimp skewers, mini burritos and cakes while sipping “Freedom Brew” and waiting for the former president to speak. Actor Jon Voight and congressional candidate Scott Bowe were among the crowd, described as younger and more diverse than previous fundraisers in Newport Beach.
“This speaks to a new Orange County,” said Sean Steele, one of three California members of the Republican National Committee and husband of Rep. Michelle Steele (R-Seal Beach).
Planes were towing banners, “Orange County Vote Biden/Harris 2024,” Newport Bay County claimed, but there were no obvious signs of pro-Biden or anti-Trump activity on Saturday. (The county, long a conservative stronghold, voted against Trump in 2016 and 2020, backing a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since the Great Depression.)
On Friday evening, President Trump was the head guest at a fundraiser held at the Beverly Hills Italianate mansion of Lee Samson, a longtime philanthropist who serves on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition and has hosted many fundraisers for Republican politicians over the years, including one that raised $5 million for Trump in 2019 and $2 million for the then-president’s daughter Ivanka Trump’s reelection campaign in 2020.
Donald Trump waved to supporters as he left his Beverly Hills home on Friday where he was holding a fundraiser for his campaign.
(Wally Scalisi/Los Angeles Times)
Nearby, a Burbank artist organized a birthday celebration for the former president, who turns 78 on Friday. Dozens of supporters waved flags outside the event, including one depicting a QAnon conspiracy theory that referenced the hoax that John F. Kennedy Jr. is still alive.
Tickets to Friday’s event cost up to $250,000 each, and Trump told the crowd that the event had raised $6 million for the 2024 presidential election, according to attendee Greg Donovan, 64, of Santa Monica.
Donovan is wearing the same uniform he wore in his previous position, a red tailcoat and black top hat. of The Beverly Hills ambassador said he was motivated to buy the $5,000 ticket because he felt “history was being made” to see Trump’s reelection effort firsthand.
Longtime Trump supporters said they were wary of Trump being convicted, saying “if it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.”
He said he expects Trump to win the November election because he has more support among his friends than he did in 2020 and because of growing support, particularly among immigrants angered by the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border.
After Trump was introduced by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (who is reportedly one of the elected officials being considered for vice presidential consideration) and Samson, the former president spoke for about 45 minutes, promising to secure the border and “train, train, train” on his first day in the Oval Office, Donovan said.
Katie Zacharias, 39, of Thousand Oaks, attended both the Beverly Hills and Newport Beach fundraisers and said the thing that stood out to her most about Trump was when he said he was going to “defeat the bad Joe Biden and get back to the White House.”
“He was really keen to move the campaign forward. [and] “It really casts hope on what our future holds and is trying to reset the country and return it to the Trump-era policies and prosperous economy that we enjoyed when Trump was president,” the mother of four said, adding that she appreciates Trump’s anti-globalist stance because she worries her three sons may have to fight in wars overseas.
Samson is the founder of Windsor Healthcare Management, one of the largest providers of skilled nursing and rehabilitation in California and Arizona. One of the group’s facilities was accused in 2020 of pressuring patients to relocate to accommodate more profitable patients during the pandemic, according to The New York Times.
A spokesperson for Windsor Park Care Centre in Fremont, where the alleged incident occurred, declined to comment to the newspaper, but Samson said, “No matter my political stance, my commitment to protecting the residents of Windsor will never waver.”
The Biden-Harris reelection campaign has aggressively exploited these allegations.
“If you want to know who Donald Trump is fighting for, look at who he spends his time with – in this case, the billionaires who kicked seniors out of nursing homes in the middle of a deadly pandemic to line their own pockets,” campaign spokeswoman Sarafina Chitica said. “Trump has made it clear to older Americans that if he wins the election in November, he is willing to sell them out to his billionaire donors, gut Social Security and Medicare, and pass tax cuts for his wealthy, radical allies.”
Friday night’s fundraiser ended relatively early because many attendees were Jewish and needed to go home for the Sabbath, Mr. Trump said, according to Mr. Donovan. Attendees in cocktail dresses and suits spilled out onto the quiet streets of Beverly Hills just before sundown.
As Trump’s motorcade departed shortly before 8 p.m. Friday, Robin Dominguez, 67, thrust a sign into the air that read “Trump Guilty.” On the other side of the sign, it said, “Put Him in Lockdown.” She was wearing a red shirt with “Make Racists Afraid Again” written in white letters.
“Shame on you!” a woman wearing a red MAGA hat yelled at Dominguez and told him he should move to Venezuela if he hated the United States. The window of a passing red SUV rolled down and a passenger in his early teens yelled, “Hey, girl! Take that sign down. This lawsuit is unjust.”
A Donald Trump supporter stands outside a home in Beverly Hills on Friday.
(Wally Scalisi/Los Angeles Times)
Dominguez said many people told her on Friday that they thought Trump’s trial was a sham, but she said, “How can you say it was a conspiracy when all 12 people convicted him?”
Trump told donors in San Francisco on Thursday that he had raised $12 million at the Pacific Heights home of venture capitalist David Sachs. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), another elected official reportedly on Trump’s running mate list, was among those introducing Trump at the event, which allowed individuals to donate up to $300,000 and couples up to $500,000.
“He said that if there hadn’t been fraud, I would have won the election today,” said Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco lawyer who has represented the Trump campaign and participated in fundraisers. “But there was fraud, so we have to be vigilant. He said he’s going to do things differently this time, that he has a whole bunch of good lawyers and volunteers, etc.”
