WASHINGTON — As the U.S. economy reels from the rippling effects of his immigration and trade policies, President Donald Trump is headed to one of his golf courses in Virginia on Thursday night for a fundraiser for the super PAC MAGA Inc., with the price of admission reportedly starting at $1 million a plate.
Trump’s approval rating is underwater, recent public polling has shown, as his global trade wars and crackdown on immigrants have rattled markets and sparked outrage at home and abroad. A Fox News poll published Thursday and conducted April 18-21 found a record low 38% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, while 56% disapproved. Even fewer people approved of his handling of tariffs and inflation — just 33% on both subjects — while nearly 60% disapproved.
What You Need To Know
As the U.S. economy reels from the rippling effects of his immigration and trade policies, President Donald Trump is headed to one of his golf courses in Virginia on Thursday night for a fundraiser for the super PAC MAGA Inc., with the price of admission reportedly starting at $1 million a plate
Trump’s approval rating is underwater, recent public polling has shown, as his global trade wars and crackdown on immigrants have rattled markets and sparked outrage at home and abroad
Despite not being constitutionally eligible to run for a third term, MAGA Inc. has continued to raise money to support Trump’s political goals
The president — who is legally barred from coordinating with super PACs — has returned the favor by attending at least three fundraisers since returning to the White House, including two this month
Earlier this month, CBS News, Axios, WIRED and other media outlets reported the price of admission for the fundraisers started at $1 million and donors could receive “host” status for a donation of $5 million
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted April 16-21 found similar numbers for his handling of the economy: 37% approve, while 51% disapprove.
“Rupert Murdoch has told me for years that he is going to get rid of his FoxNews, Trump Hating, Fake Pollster, but he has never done so. This ‘pollster’ has gotten me, and MAGA, wrong for years,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday morning. “Also, and while he’s at it, he should start making changes at the China Loving Wall Street Journal. It sucks!!!”
Despite not being constitutionally eligible to run for a third term, MAGA Inc. has continued to raise money to support Trump’s political operations and the president — who is legally barred from coordinating with super PACs — has returned the favor by attending at least three fundraisers since returning to the White House, including two this month, according to his public schedules. WIRED reported a fourth dinner at Mar-a-Lago was attended by Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk on March 15, but was not listed on the White House’s official schedules.
The previous two confirmed fundraisers, on April 4 and March 1, were held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where he has lived for years while not residing in the White House and continues to spend his time most weekends. Thursday night’s fundraiser is being held at Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C., in northeast Virginia, just outside the capital.
While Trump has handed over day-to-day control of the Trump Organization to his older sons, Don Jr. and Eric, he still profits from the family business and exerts significant influence. Earlier on Thursday, after complaining in a social media post that a lawyer working with Harvard University in its legal dispute with the federal government also consulted the Trump Organization, Eric Trump confirmed the lawyer would no longer be working with the company.
MAGA Inc. did not immediately return a request for details on the fundraiser. Earlier this month, CBS News, Axios, WIRED and other media outlets reported the price of admission for the fundraisers started at $1 million and donors could receive “host” status for a donation of $5 million.
“This exorbitant level of payment for presidential access raises serious concerns about the possibility of corruption by candlelight,” said Jon Golinger, an official with the progressive consumer advocacy group Public Citizen and former public corruption prosecutor with the San Francisco district attorney’s office. “The American people have a right to know who will be there tonight and whether the Million Dollar Dinner menu includes a deep dish of juicy government contracts, a side of tasty tax breaks, or a sweet dessert of ending investigations and enforcement actions against their companies.”
Public Citizen, which has engaged in numerous legal and public relations battles with the Trump administration, called for campaign finance reform to address the loose rules that have flooded U.S. elections with billions in largely unregulated campaign dollars since the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling by the Supreme Court.
FEC records for MAGA Inc. are not yet publicly available, but the group raised more than $410 million for Trump’s reelection efforts in 2023 and 2024.
The dinner is scheduled for hours after Trump signed an executive order targeting the Democratic Party-aligned fundraising tool ActBlue and ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi, who once led a different pro-Trump super PAC, to investigate allegations of foreign campaign contributions made through the platform. ActBlue has denied any wrongdoing and Democrats have accused Trump of using the federal government to punish his political foes and sow distrust in the U.S. political system.
Despite presidential campaigns not being legally allowed to coordinate with super PACs, Trump’s political machine and White House have considerable overlap with MAGA Inc. Senior Trump White House aides Steven Cheung and Taylor Budowich held top roles at the super PAC for various periods over the last presidential cycle, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt served as the group’s spokesperson for a time and acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba, Trump’s longtime personal lawyer and legal adviser, served as a senior adviser to the super PAC as she actively represented Trump in court battles.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick donated nearly $10 million to MAGA Inc. between December 2023 and October 2024, campaign finance records show. And Education Secretary Linda McMahon donated north of $20 million in the lead-up to last year’s election. Kelly Loeffler, the billionaire and former Georgia senator who now leads the Small Business Administration, donated around $2 million.
Presidents are barred from serving more than two terms in office by the Constitution, but that has not stopped Trump and his allies from discussing the possibility on the campaign trail and since he returned to office. The Trump Organization’s official store has begun selling “Trump 2028” hats, with Trump’s political operation promoting the hats on Thursday.
More imminently, the MAGA Inc. funds can be used to promote candidates Trump favors and spend against the candidates he dislikes in the 2026 midterm elections, as it did shortly after its formation in 2022.
Thursday night’s dinner is not the only money-making meal Trump has on his schedule at his D.C.-area golf course in the near future. In May, he will invite the top 220 investors in his meme cryptocurrency coin for a dinner with him, based on their holdings between April 23 and May 12.
The coin is a personal business venture for Trump and his family, but some investors have viewed it as a way to curry favor with the president. The coin’s price jumped more than 50% after the announcement, and cryptocurrency researcher Molly White reported that a buyer appearing to be making investments from outside the U.S. spent $8 million on Trump’s coin on Thursday.
“This isn’t Trump just being Trump. The Trump coin scam is the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done. Not close,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote on X on Wednesday.
