Donald Trump raised more than $2 million from donors who attended a “candlelight dinner” with him in Bedminster on Tuesday night — following his day in federal court and defiant speech outside the clubhouse.
CNBC reports this on Wednesday that supporters who donated or raised more than $100,000 for his bid for the White House in 2024 were invited to the intimate affair.
They were fed Trump favorites, including burgers and crab cakes, and were served wine and cocktails.
The initial invitation had teased special convention guests, but only Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama made it to New Jersey, as voting was still going on Tuesday night.
Tuberville stayed for the donor dinner. “I was invited a few weeks ago, this was planned,” he told DailyMail.com of the schedule on Wednesday.
Trump raised more than $2 million from donors who attended a ‘candlelight dinner’ with him in Bedminster on Tuesday night
The former president addressed a crowd of several hundred outside the clubhouse at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey
Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, attended Trump’s speech in Bedminster and then stayed for the intimate “candlelight dinner,” where only donors who paid more than $100,000 could attend
Before the more exclusive dinner, a crowd of several hundred gathered outside the clubhouse at Trump’s golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, to hear him make pointed remarks about the Mar-a-Lago filing case.
That event attracted some Trumpworld favorites, including My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, Sebastian Gorka, Andrew Giuliani, and Bernie Kerik.
Eric Trump attended the event, as did Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancé.
Aides who had traveled to Miami with the president, including Boris Epshteyn and Margo Martin, also attended the speech.
Walt Nauta, who also faces federal charges over the Mar-a-Lago documents case, returned to New Jersey with the president, Trump’s spokesman said, but DailyMail.com did not see him in the audience for the speech.
A large group in the audience were Vietnamese Americans for America First, who were easy to spot as all the women wore the same red MAGA dress.
Trump told the audience that the prosecution was “the most vicious and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville (left) stands next to Eric Trump (center) and Kimberly Guilfoyle (right), the fiancé of Donald Trump Jr.
Some Trumpworld favorites gathered in Bedminster Tuesday night, including My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell (left) and Sebastian Gorka (right), who briefly worked in the Trump White House
Several hundred Trump supporters came out to watch him speak, before a handful of people were invited to dinner with the ex-president as part of a $2 million fundraiser
Former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik talks to guests Tuesday night ahead of Trump’s speech at his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey
Andrew Giuliani, who worked in the Trump administration and is the son of former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, was in Bedminster on Tuesday night
“I did everything right and they sued me,” he complained.
The former president suggested other political figures had gotten away with much worse.
“He lost the nuclear codes,” Trump claimed of Bill Clinton, whom he called a “nice guy.”
“They should have used him more as an advisor in the 2016 election,” Trump also joked, referring to how he beat Clinton’s wife Hillary in that year’s presidential election.
Trump also charged that George W. Bush’s White House “lost 22 million emails.”
“On the way to Dick Cheney’s house, a document destruction truck was spotted. Could you imagine?’ added the former president.
He spoke at length about Bill Clinton’s ‘socks’ case, which fact-checkers have already said it is not a valid comparison to what Trump is accused of doing.
When Trump paused to take a sip from a bottle of water, a member of the audience shouted “Happy Birthday!” at him.
He turned 77 on Wednesday.
“Happy birthday huh?” noted the ex-president.
Trump grinned as a crowd of supporters then sang “Happy Birthday” to him.
‘Happy Birthday. Happy birthday,’ he said.
“I was with Eric and Lara and the kids – “Happy Birthday Grandpa!” – I said oh great, I just got charged with, they want about 400 years, if you add them all up. A false 400 years. So thank you darling, that’s so nice. It’s a great birthday,” the former president continued. “We’re going to make it the best birthday of all.”