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Former President Trump’s stop in the blue bastion of San Francisco turned out to be fruitful in more than one way.
Not only did the presumptive Republican presidential nominee haul in roughly $12 million at a fundraiser on Thursday evening, he also officially landed the endorsement of a major tech investor.
The fundraiser was hosted by David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, two of the heaviest hitters in Silicon Valley and co-hosts of the hot “All-In” podcast.
And it was held at Sacks’ multimillion-dollar home in the tony Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.
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Tickets at the sold-out event ranged from $50,000 per person to get in the door all the way up to $500,000 per couple for special access and a photo with Trump.
A couple of hours before the fundraiser, Sacks took to social media to formally endorse Trump.
“I give to many, but endorse few. But today I am giving my endorsement to our 45th President, Donald J. Trump, to be our 47th President. My reasons rest on four main issues that I think are vital to American prosperity, security, and stability – issues where the Biden administration has veered badly off course and where I believe President Trump can lead us back,” Sacks wrote on X.
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Sacks said that “the voters have experienced four years of President Trump and four years of President Biden. In tech, we call this an A/B test.”
“With respect to economic policy, foreign policy, border policy, and legal fairness, Trump performed better. He is the President who deserves a second term,” he argued.
According to sources familiar with the fundraising dinner on Thursday, Sacks reiterated his praise for Trump and explained why he’s supporting the presumptive GOP nominee in his 2024 election rematch with President Biden.
While his official endorsement came on Thursday, Sacks first signaled his support for Trump during a March meeting that he had with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son, in Washington, D.C.
The impromptu meeting at the Conrad Hotel, held hours after Trump clinched the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by Fox News. It was at that meeting that Sacks indicated he was all-in for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
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Vance, who is a Trump ally and a potential 2024 running mate who is close to Trump Jr., spent time a few years back in the San Francisco area working for hedge funds in the tech sector. Sources say he was instrumental in putting the top-dollar fundraiser together.
According to sources, Sacks said at the fundraiser that “this all started with JD Vance calling and asking if we could host an event for President Trump. Without JD’s advice and encouragement, this would never have happened.”
Trump heads south to Beverly Hills for a Friday fundraiser and a Saturday finance event in Newport Beach in Orange County.
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at HoverTech International, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, in Allentown, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP)
The trip doesn’t mean the Trump campaign thinks overwhelmingly blue California may be in play.
Instead, Trump’s appearances — like those of two sold-out fundraisers in the Bay Area on Wednesday headlined by Vice President Harris and President Biden’s San Francisco area fundraisers last month — are the latest proof that the Golden State remains a crucial ATM for campaign cash.
Trump’s campaign on Monday said it and the Republican National Committee (RNC), fueled in part by the former president’s guilty verdicts in his criminal trial, hauled in a stunning $141 million in fundraising in May.
Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.
The former president’s campaign highlighted that in the first 24 hours following last week’s verdict, it and the RNC brought in nearly $53 million in fundraising, which counted toward May’s total.
President Biden speaks during a campaign event in Philadelphia on May 29. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden campaign has also been fundraising off of the Trump verdict, and a source familiar told Fox News that “the 24 hours after the verdict were one of the best fundraising 24 hours of the Biden campaign since launch.”
Trump has been aiming to close his fundraising gap with Biden. In April, his campaign and the RNC for the first time outraised the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Fundraising, along with public opinion polling, is a key metric used to measure the strength of candidates and their campaigns. Money raised can be used to build up grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel and ads, among other things.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.
