Corporate donors swarm GOP convention: ‘It’s like a cocktail party’

Much of corporate America has flocked to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, packing luxury suites high above the arena, cutting checks, sponsoring late-night parties and mingling with Republican politicians as well as former and current Trump advisers over happy hours and lunches.

The revelry is a remarkable shift from several years ago, when many corporate donors treated Trump as a pariah after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and decried his efforts to overturn the election. Companies faced backlash from an angry workforce if they embraced the former president or supported his nascent effort to return to the White House. In the Republican presidential primary, many of the country’s top donors wrote big checks for Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis, eschewing Trump.

But now that Trump is the Republican standard-bearer, more than 300 executives and lobbyists are attending the convention as guests of his campaign. That total includes more than a dozen oil and gas CEOs or lobbyists who have fueled the Trump campaign with massive checks. Firms such as Lockheed Martin, Comcast, Pepsi, Aflac and other Fortune 500 companies have executives in attendance, according to Trump campaign officials who, like other people interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose behind-the-scenes details about the convention.

Construction firms, waste management companies, mortgage bankers, trade associations, sugar executives, Realtors, home builders, banks, hotel chains, asphalt companies and others are represented in Milwaukee. “They want to get to know the people who would be in charge of another term,” a lobbyist who represents several of the firms said.

High above the arena floor, on a long, closed-to-the-public concourse lined with wood-paneled luxury suites, the mood has been exuberant. For three nights, the GOP’s top leaders have circulated from box to box along the concourse, watching the action on in-suite televisions and drinking, eating and building relationships with the nation’s wealthiest donors.

“Every night, it’s like a cocktail party,” one person who has attended all three nights said of the concourse. “It’s donors, lobbyists, senators, members of Congress and governors standing outside talking and drinking.”

Trump has not circulated in the suites, but vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) has a suite, according to campaign advisers.

Lobbyists from more than a dozen prominent firms have attended the convention as guests of the Trump campaign’s host committee. To get in the boxes, donors have to have written large checks or have promised large checks.

Top executives in the cryptocurrency industry are also in the boxes, people familiar with the matter said, as they seek to get Trump to take a more favorable approach to the industry than Biden. Trump has embraced cryptocurrency in recent months, and the official Republican Party platform praised the industry.

Multiple donors said they’ve been surprised by how many tech executives have circulated among the luxury suites. Many of the tech executives have been there to support Vance and say a Trump administration will treat their companies better than the Biden administration has.

The boxes have gotten so loud at times that donors have shushed each other. Seizing the opportunity, lawmakers, governors and others have created specialty boxes in hidden corners of the arena where donors can gather in quieter, more private settings.

Donors have been served nacho chips with salsa and guacamole, pigs in blankets, sliders, popcorn, peanuts, wine and beer, and enjoyed a make-your-own-drink bar.

One longtime donor who has attended multiple conventions recalled looking around Wednesday evening and seeing so many elected officials that he was taken aback. At least 30 U.S. senators have visited the boxes, along with the top leadership of the Trump campaign, more than a dozen governors and leadership of the U.S. House, people in the boxes said.

“The thing that made my eye pop a little bit is the high concentration of Trump officials and elected officials in such a small space. It’s just been really remarkable,” the donor said.

The convention has raised a record $85 million from corporate America, according to Reince Priebus, chairman of the RNC host committee, and corporations have sponsored boozy parties across town.

Priebus, who has the best suite, entertains nightly and issues some of the most sought-after invites, people at the convention said.

“Companies across Milwaukee, the state of Wisconsin and the country have been very generous to the Milwaukee Host Committee and we are beyond grateful,” Priebus said.

Conventions have always been a favored spot for corporations and lobbyists to mingle, meet with influential politicians, curry favor with political campaigns and witness politics up close. On the Democratic side, some of the country’s top unions and billionaires also have special access to politicians during the convention. This year’s Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago next month.

But corporations and lobbyists’ presence at the Republican National Convention this year is notable because it shows that corporate America has returned to Trump — even as some of the speakers at the convention, including the head of the Teamsters union, have decried corporations and their influence.

Some donors groaned audibly during a speech delivered by the Teamsters president, one donor said. But GOP donors have largely been optimistic about the party’s chances and pleased with the convention.

To be sure, some major donors, including Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, have not shown up to the luxury suites.

Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak, who is close to donors and attending the convention, said corporate America has several reasons to return to the GOP fold.

“The big reason is the tax cuts. Is Biden going to extend the tax cuts? The answer is no,” Mackowiak said. “Trump is going to do it. They’re going to put it on steroids.”

As he asks for money, Trump has repeatedly promised major donors that he will cut their taxes — and said Biden will raise them.

One of the biggest donors at the convention is Harold Hamm, an oil billionaire from Oklahoma who is friends with the former president. Trump has asked the oil industry to bring in $1 billion, and lobbyists from multiple oil companies are attending the event. Trump has promised in fundraisers to enact policies that oil executives want.

But the main reason many executives have given, according to many donors, is they believe Trump will be back in office — or at least are concerned enough to hedge their bets. “Money wants to be with the winner,” Mackowiak said.

Business executives are not necessarily pro-Trump but are furious with Gary Gensler, Lina Khan and other Biden administration officials and how they have approached regulations, one prominent business executive who attended the convention said.

“A lot of people say, at this point, ‘We’ll take the mean tweets,’” said the person, who is not a Trump fan.

On the Democratic side, donors are increasingly less likely to want to attend the convention if Biden is the nominee, several donors said. “Money is drying up,” a prominent Democrat involved in the Biden operation said.

“Almost everyone I talk to is despondent about the situation on the Democratic side,” said Kathy Wylde, who leads the Partnership for New York City, a major business group. “It’s not just Biden’s weak performance but equally the fact that Americans are resorting to violence, both physical and rhetorical, to resolve their dissatisfaction with the state of affairs. Business abhors political instability, which seems to have overtaken the country.”